RETAIL  MERCHANT 


hitehead 


DAWSON  BLACK 

RETAIL  MERCHANT 


"  {Betty  fsas  a  real  comfort  " 

(.See  page  1 10) 


DAWSONBLACK: 

RETAIL  MERCHANT 


By 

HAROLD  WHITEHEAD 

Author  of 
"  The  Business   Career   of   Peter   Flint  " 


ILLUSTRATED 
Bu 

JOHN  GOSS 


IB 


s 

a 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
THE  PAGE  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved 


First  Impression,  July,  1918 


7  am  glad  to  confess  that  what- 
ever I  do  is  done  because  I  want  to 
justify  the  faith  in  my  ability  and 
the  loving  encouragement  which 
has  so  loyally  been  given  to  me. 
For  this  reason,  I  dedicate  this  to 
the  one  zvho  has  inspired  me  to  do 
my  best  —  My  Wife. 


INTRODUCTION 

A  BOY,  just  graduated  from  high  school,  was  look- 
ing over  some  of  his  father's  business  books  and  maga- 
zines. The  more  he  read,  the  more  disappointed  he 
became,  until  finally  he  blurted, 

"  Say,  dad,  I  don't  want  to  be  a  business  man ! " 

"  Why  not  ?  "  asked  his  father,  with  a  tolerant  smile. 

"  Aw,  there's  no  fun  in  business." 

"  Get  that  foolish  idea  out  of  your  head,  son. 
There's  nothing  I  know  of  that  is  quite  so  much  fun 
—  as  you  call  it —  as  business.  Where  did  you  get 
your  ideas  of  business?" 

"  From  them  books,"  said  son,  emphatically,  if  un- 
grammatically. "  All  they  talk  about  is  efficiency, 
getting  results,  checking  people  up,  and  things  of  that 
kind." 

Just  ask  yourself,  Friend  Reader,  if  your  business 
reading  has  not  given  you  an  idea  that  business  should 
be  more  or  less  a  cold-blooded  proposition,  and  our 
business  life  something  apart  from  our  home  and  social 
relationships. 

Unfortunately,  many  books,  excellent  in  their 
presentation  of  principles,  ignore  the  human  side,  as 
it  were,  of  business.  I  believe  —  nay,  I  am  sure  — 
that  the  influence  of  our  home  life  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  development  of  our  business  career.  Our 
loves,  our  dislikes,  our  jealousies,  our  unfortunate,  yet 


viii  Introduction 

often  lovable,  unreasonablenesses  are  reflected  in  our 
business  life.  Our  impetuous  business  decisions  are 
often  made  through  the  subconscious  influence  of  some 
dear  one  at  home. 

Our  ambitions. —  Are  you,  Friend  Reader,  so  cold- 
blooded that  you  can  say  your  ambition  is  a  selfish 
one?  Honestly  now,  wasn't  it  that  you  want  to  win 
something  (whatever  it  may  be)  ?  Didn't  you  want 
to  "make  good"  just  to  please  some  little  woman? 

When  you  faltered  and  weakened  in  your  struggle 
for  success,  wasn't  it  she  who  gave  you  the  necessary 
loving  sympathy  and  encouragement  to  keep  everlast- 
ingly at  it?  And  wasn't  your  ambition  encouraged 
a  little  bit  by  the  delight  you  knew  its  attainment 
would  give  to  that  sweet  little  woman,  who  thinks  "  her 
boy"  is  just  all  right?  Didn't  you  want  to  "make 
good  "  so  as  to  please  your  mother  and  your  father  ? 

I  don't  care  if  you  are  a  big,  six-foot,  bull-necked 
husky  who  smokes  black  cigars  and  swears,  you 
have  to  admit  the  truth  of  this  assertion  so  far  as  you 
are  concerned. 

Sounds  like  moralizing,  doesn't  it?  And  yet  it's 
God's  own  truth! 

It  was  convictions  such  as  these  which  caused  me 
to  write  "  Dawson  Black."  I  wanted  to  give  the 
world  a  book  which  would  not  be  a  learned  and  techni- 
cal treatise  on  retail  merchandising,  but  would  give 
a  picture  of  business  life  as  it  really  is  —  not  as  the 
world  mis-sees  it. 

I  have  tried  to  make  "  Dawson  Black  "  a  human 
being,  not  an  automaton  to  go  through  a  series  of 
jerky  motions  to  illustrate  principles.  I  wanted  him 
to  do  some  things  wrong  and  suffer  for  it,  and  some 


Introduction  ix 

things  right,  and  perhaps  still  suffer  a  little;  but  I 
wanted  to  make  his  business  life  REAL.  I  wanted  the 
reader  to  say  to  himself,  "  By  Jove!  I  did  just  that 
same  fool  thing  myself !  " 

And,  underneath  all  this,  I  wanted  to  present  a  few 
of  the  principles  of  retail  merchandising.  I  wanted 
to  show  that  the  result  of  the  correct  application  of 
a  principle  was  sure,  and  that  a  principle  of  retail  mer- 
chandising is  applicable  to  every  kind  of  retail  store 
—  be  it  the  little  corner  Italian  fruit  stand,  or  be  it  the 
largest  department  store  in  the  country ;  be  it  hardware, 
drygoods,  drugs,  shoes,  plumbing,  or  what  not. 

This  book  will  have  answered  its  purpose  if  it  en- 
courages you  to  persevere  by  showing  that  the  majority 
of  people  make  the  same  mistakes  that  you  do, —  and 
inspires  you  with  the  nobility  of  business,  and  in  par- 
ticular convinces  you  that  you  are  not  working  for 
money,  but  for  the  happiness  you  can  give  somebody 
else  in  addition  to  yourself. 

HAROLD  WHITEHEAD. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION vii 

I  AN  UNEXPECTED  INHERITANCE    ....       i 

II    READY  TO  Go  AHEAD 6 

III  MY  FIRST  DAY 10 

IV  IN  TROUBLE 15 

V    BETTY,  MAKES  A  PROMISE 21 

VI    UNTYING  SOME  TANGLES 23 

VII    GETTING  DOWN  TO  WORK 30 

VIII  A  WEDDING  AND  A  CONVENTION  ....     37 

IX    A  GOOD  PLAN  BLOCKED 46 

X    CURBING  CREDIT  CUSTOMERS 52 

XI    MORE  FINANCIAL  WORRIES 59 

XII    AN  UNEXPECTED  VISITOR 65 

XIII  A  NEW  KIND  OF  LOTTERY 73 

XIV  SOME  IDEAS  IN  BUYING 80 

XV    How  TO  STOP  SWEARING 89 

XVI    A  PROPER  USE  FOR  EYES 95 

XVII    PLANNING  TO  REDUCE  STOCK 100 

XVIII    THE  GREAT  SALE 109 

XIX    A  TRIP  TO  BOSTON 122 

XX  A  SUCCESSFUL  MONDAY  MEETING     .     .     .   127 

XXI    A  POOR  SALESMAN 136 


Xll 


Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXII  STIGLER  PREPARES  ANOTHER  BLOW  .     .     .  146 

XXIII  TRADING  STAMPS     ........  153 

XXIV  PREPARING  FOR  THE  BATTLE 167 

XXV  SELLING  ELECTRIC  APPLIANCES    ....  176 

XXVI    FIRE  —  AND  No  INSURANCE 183 

XXVII     PROFIT-SHARING  PLANS 189 

XXVIII    GETTING  NEW  BUSINESS 200 

XXIX    STIGLER  RUNS  AMUCK 212 

XXX    NEW  TROUBLES 217 

XXXI    A  NEW  COMPETITOR 222 

XXXII  SOME  IDEAS  ON  WINDOW  TRIMMING  .     .     .  235 

XXXIII  A  BUSINESS  PROPOSITION 246 

XXXIV  DOMINATING  IN  SERVICE 254 

XXXV  A  NEW  THOUGHT  ON  RETAIL  SELLING  .     .  263 

XXXVI    BETTY  COMES  HOME 279 

XXXVII    WOOLTON  COMES  TO  TOWN 285 

XXXVIII  A  LOGICAL  PROFIT-SHARING  PLAN  .     .     .298 

XXXIX    A  BOOMERANG  IDEA 308 

XL    RULES  FOR  GIVING  SERVICE 315 

XLI  ENDORSING  A  NOTE  FOR  A  FRIEND    .     .     .  321 

XLII  JOCK  MCTAVISH  DISTURBS  THE  PEACE  .     .  329 

XLIII  MARTIN  SPRINGS  A  SURPRISE     ....  337 

XLIV    A  BUDGET  OF  SURPRISES 349 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACE 

"  BETTY  WAS  A  REAL  COMFORT  "     (See  page  no) 

Frontispiece 
"  I  WAS  SO  RAGING  MAD  THAT  I  WAS  PREPARED  FOR 

ALMOST  ANYTHING  " I2O 

"  THE  GIRL  IN  CHARGE  WOULD  LOOK  UP  SWEETLY  "  .179 
"  I  WAS  STANDING  OUTSIDE  THE  WINDOW  "  .  .  .  .  236 
"  SNIPPED  THREE  SHORT  PIECES  OF  WIRE  FROM  THE 

COIL 277 


DAWSON  BLACK 

RETAIL   MERCHANT 

CHAPTER  I 

AN   UNEXPECTED   INHERITANCE 

I  HADN'T  seen  Aunt  Emma  for  five  years,  and, 
candidly,  I  had  never  thought  a  great  deal  of  her;  so 
you  can  imagine  how  surprised  I  was  when  a  long- 
whiskered  chap  blew  in  at  the  Mater's  to-day  and  told 
me  that  Aunt  Emma  had  died,  and  —  had  left  me  eight 
thousand  dollars  in  cash  and  a  farm  in  the  Berk- 
shires  ! 

Of  course  my  first  thought  was  to  hunt  up  Betty 
and  get  her  to  help  me  celebrate! 

We  had  a  bully  good  time!  Betty  was  delighted 
with  my  good  fortune;  but  scolded  me  for  not  being 
sorry  aunty  had  died.  I  suppose  I  should  have  pre- 
tended I  was  sorry,  although,  having  met  her  only 
twice  in  my  life,  she  was  practically  a  stranger  to 
me. 

I  told  Betty  I  thought  I'd  throw  up  my  job  with 
Barlow  —  he  runs  the  Main  Street  Hardware  Store 
—  and  get  a  store  of  my  own. 

We  had  quite  a  talk  over  it.  Betty  approved  of  it 
and  said  she  was  sure  I  would  succeed.  She  reminded 
me,  though,  that  I  was  only  twenty-two,  and  said  that 
if  I  did  buy  a  store  I  should  get  some  one  to  advise 


2          Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

me  about  it.  She's  a  fine  girl,  Betty,  but  of  course 
she  knew  nothing  about  business. 

The  next  morning  I  put  an  advertisement  in  the 
county  paper.  Fellows,  a  chap  I  know  who  works 
at  the  Flaxon  Advertising  Company  —  he's  some  rela- 
tion to  Betty  —  said  I  ought  to  have  used  a  trade 
paper,  but  I  told  him  I  didn't  want  to  go  far  from 
home,  and  a  trade  paper  would  probably  bring  me 
answers  from  Oshkosh  and  Kankakee  and  such  funny 
places,  and  I  would  simply  be  paying  out  good  money 
to  get  offers  from  places  I  didn't  want  to  go  to.  Not 
that  I  wouldn't  like  to  travel,  but  Betty  would  .  .  . 
well,  never  mind  what  Betty  would  or  wouldn't. — 
There  goes  the  telephone  bell.  .  .  . 

Isn't  it  funny!  I  had  just  got  back  from  seeing 
Fellows  when  I  had  a  telephone  call  from  Jim 
Simpson.  Jim  was  a  young  fellow,  only  a  little  older 
than  I,  who  ran  a  hardware  store  right  here  in  Farm- 
dale.  I  used  to  go  to  school  with  him.  He  called 
it  a  hardware  store,  but  his  business  was  confined 
to  kitchen  furnishings  and  household  hardware.  It 
seemed  he  wanted  to  go  out  West  and  offered  to  sell 
me  his  store  cheap. 

Fancy!  Jim  Simpson,  right  here  in  our  town,  want- 
ing to  sell  out,  and  me  wanting  to  buy  a  store,  and 
neither  of  us  knowing  it!  I  telephoned  to  Betty  to 
tell  her  about  it,  and  she  said  to  be  careful,  because 
she  didn't  like  him.  Aren't  women  funny,  with  their 
likes  and  dislikes,  without  knowing 'why!  Jim  was  a 
pretty  smart  fellow,  and  while  the  store  wasn't  just 
exactly  what  I  had  in  mind,  he  did  a  fairly  good 
business.  I  made  an  appointment  with  Jim  to  see 
him  the  next  day. 


An  Unexpected  Inheritance  8 

Well,  I  guess  a  streak  of  lightning  has  nothing  on 
me !  Before  night  I  was  the  owner  of  the  Black  Hard- 
ware Store,  for  I  had  bought  Jim  out  and  was  to  take 
possession  the  following  Monday!  I  had  seen  Jim's 
books,  and  I  knew  everything  was  all  right.  Jim  was 
a  good  fellow,  and  he  promised  to  give  me  all  the 
help  and  advice  that  I  wanted.  He  said  he'd  like  to 
stay  in  town  with  me  for  a  few  weeks,  only  he  was 
anxious  to  go  out  West  right  away. 

The  store  had  $9460.00  worth  of  goods,  reckoned 
at  cost.  Jim  agreed  to  let  me  have  all  his  fixtures 
and  show-cases,  which  he  said  had  cost  him  over  a 
thousand  dollars,  and  good-will,  for  $540.00,  making 
the  cost  of  the  store  to  me  $10,000.00. 

When  Jim  told  me  the  cost  would  be  $10,000.00  I 
was  considerably  disappointed,  for  I  had  only 
$8000.00  besides  the  farm.  I  told  Jim  the  farm  was 
worth,  I  thought,  about  $8500.00,  but  I  couldn't  sell 
that  right  away  and,  of  course,  I  couldn't  pay  out  all 
my  ready  cash,  because  I  wouldn't  have  anything  left 
for  operating  expenses. 

Jim  was  pretty  decent  about  it,  and  said: 

"  You  give  me  $7000.00  in  cash  and  a  mortgage 
on  the  farm  and  I'll  give  you  a  year  to  pay  the  bal- 
ance. With  the  big  profit  you  can  make  in  this  store, 
you'll  be  able  to  pay  that  $3000.00  in  no  time  at  all. 
Besides,  if  you  couldn't  quite  manage  it  in  a  year, 
I'd  renew  it,  of  course." 

But  I  thought  I  ought  to  have  more  than  $1000.00 
left,  and  finally  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  give  him 
$6500.00  in  cash  and  a  mortgage  on  the  farm  for 
$3500.00 

I  had  my  $8000.00  deposited  in  the  Farmdale  Trust 


4          Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

Company,  so  we  went  over  there  and  I  gave  him  a 
check  for  the  $6500.00.  I  thought  I  ought  to  do  well 
with  $1500.00  besides  that  splendid  store  of  goods. 

Jim  had  started  out  to  be  a  lawyer  and  had  studied 
law  for  a  while,  and  he  said  he  would  draw  up  the 
mortgage  himself  so  there  wouldn't  be  any  delay  about 
it.  I  brought  him  over  some  legal-looking  papers  I 
had  from  Aunt  Emma's  estate  —  deeds,  he  called 
them  —  and  we  fixed  that  up  without  any  trouble. 

I  asked  Jim  if  we  ought  not  to  take  stock  together, 
and  he  said,  "  Sure,  if  you  want  to ;  "  but  I  found  that 
he  had  an  exact  stock-keeping  system,  and  Jim  sug- 
gested that  we  pick  out  about  a  dozen  items  and  just 
check  those  up  — "  for,"  said  he,  "  what's  the  use  of 
checking  up  fifty  cents'  worth  of  this  and  thirty  cents' 
worth  of  that?  Your  time  is  too  valuable  for  that." 

I  agreed  with  him,  for  I  couldn't  afford  to  waste 
my  time  now  that  I  was  the  owner  of  a  store. 

Betty  asked  me  that  night  if  I  had  had  a  lawyer 
to  go  over  the  thing  with  me,  but  I  laughed  at  her 
and  said,  "  I  don't  want  a  lawyer  for  a  little  deal  like 
this  between  Jim  and  me."  I  told  her  it  would  have 
been  almost  an  insult  to  have  suggested  that  I  wanted 
a  lawyer.  She  shook  her  head  sadly  and  said  some- 
thing about  a  man  who  was  his  own  lawyer  having 
a  fool  for  a  client  —  which  I  thought  was  not  at  all 
called  for! 

Before  going  to  bed,  I  figured  out  what  the  store 
should  be  worth  to  me.  Jim  had  told  me  he  turned 
over  his  stock  about  three  times  a  year,  and  that  he 
made  about  10  per  cent,  clear  profit.  Three  times 
$9460.00  would  be  $28,380.00;  and  if  he  made  10 
per  cent.,  clear  profit,  that  would  be  $2838.00  a  year  — 


An  Unexpected  Inheritance  5 

call  it  $3000.00  a  year.  That  was  $60.00  a  week! 
Gee !  —  some  jump  from  what  I  was  getting  at  Bar- 
low's! I  thought  how  easy  it  was  to  make  money 
when  you  had  some  to  start  with!  Here  I  had  been 
working  my  head  off  for  a  year  and  a  half  and  getting 
only  $10.00  a  week,  and  now  I  would  be  making 
$60.00.  I  decided  to  ask  Betty  to  —  oh,  well,  I'd  wait 
a  month  or  two  until  I  saw  if  it  worked  out  just  like 
that.  Better  be  on  the  safe  side! 


CHAPTER  II 

READY   TO   GO   AHEAD 

MOTHER  had  a  talk  with  me  about  the  store,  in  the 
morning  and  asked  me  to  try  to  get  my  money  back 
from  Jim.  She  said  she  had  never  liked  Jim,  and 
that  he  was  a  bit  careless  in  his  transactions.  When 
mother  said  anybody  was  careless  in  their  transac- 
tions, she  meant  he  was  a  crook,  but  I  knew  Jim  better 
than  that,  and  I  told  her  so.  Mother  said  she  didn't 
want  me  to  lose  my  money  as  soon  as  I'd  got  it. 

I  was  all  the  Mater  had,  for  Dad  had  died  a  few 
years  before.  Fortunately,  his  life  was  well  insured 
and  mother  had  enough  to  live  on.  I  told  her  I  was 
a  young  progressive,  but  I  was  not  taking  any  chances 
with  anything  that  affected  her,  so  there  was  no  need 
for  her  to  worry. 

I  told  Barlow  that  I'd  have  to  leave  him  that  day 
because  I  had  bought  out  Jim  Simpson's  store  and 
was  to  start  in  on  the  following  Monday.  He  looked 
at  me  for  a  minute,  and  said: 

"  Have  you  paid  him  for  it  yet?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  I  said. 

"  I  suppose  Jim's  going  out  West,  isn't  he  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"I  said  again. 

He  paused  again,  and  then  he  said : 

"Well,  look  here,  son,  you've  always  been  a  good 
worker  with  me.  You  still  have  a  lot  to  learn,  how- 
ever, because  ypii  wasted  your  evenings  instead  of 


doing  some  studying,  but  I'd  like  to  see  you  '  make 
good  '  and  I'll  help  you  all  I  can." 

I  was  surprised  at  this,  and  I  said: 

"  But,  Mr.  Barlow,  we'll  be  competitors  then !  " 

I  began  to  like  Barlow  very  much  then,  for  he 
put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  and  said: 

"  Look  here,  son,  can't  we  be  competitors  and  yet 
be  friends!  Remember,  I  have  a  store  several  times 
larger  than  the  one  you  are  going  into,  so  it  is  you 
who  will  have  to  compete  with  me,  not  I  with  you." 

That  was  a  new  thought  to  me  all  right. 

"  We  can  be  friends,  even  if  we  are  competitors, 
you  know,"  Mr.  Barlow  continued,  "  and  if  you  get 
into  any  kind  of  trouble,  come  around  and  see  me  and 
I'll  do  what  I  can  to  help  you." 

I  was  sure  he  meant  it,  too.  And  all  the  time  I 
had  thought  that  Barlow  was  a  "  has  been."  What 
a  different  slant  you  seem  to  get  on  people  as  soon 
as  you  get  up  to  their  position!  I  suppose  it's  just 
like  climbing  a  mountain;  if  you  want  to  see  the  view 
the  other  fellow  sees,  you  have  to  get  up  to  the  same 
height  which  he  has  surmounted. 

I  had  an  interesting  chat  with  Jim  that  day.  I 
went  to  the  store  and  he  had  marked  about  'twenty 
items  on  his  stock  book,  which  he  said  was  a  perpetual 
inventory.  He  passed  the  book  over  to  me,  and  said, 
"  I've  marked  a  couple  of  dozen  items  which  you  can 
look  over.  I've  picked  out  some  of  the  things  that  run 
into  a  lot  of  money,  because  those  are  the  things  you 
are  most  careful  about,  aren't  they?  —  and  I  didn't 
think  you'd  want  to  waste  your  time  over  a  lot  of 
trivial  things." 

I  checked  those  up  with  him  and  in  one  case  I  found 


8          Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

there  was  even  more  stock  than  Jim  said.  I  laughed 
and  said,  "  I  got  you  there,  Jim !  This  wonderful 
perpetual  inventory  isn't  perfect,  after  all ! " 

"  Well,  of  course,"  he  replied,  "  there  might  be  a 
fraction  of  a  difference  here  and  there,  but  in  the 
main  it's  bound  to  be  correct."  He  continued,  with 
a  bit  of  a  grin,  "If  you're  a  little  short  in  one  thing, 
you'll  find  a  little  bit  over  on  another;  and  anyhow, 
you've  got  your  fixtures  for  half  of  what  they're 
worth,  to  allow  for  any  little  discrepancy  that  may 
crop  up." 

He  showed  me  how  the  cash  register  worked  and 
how  to  total  up  the  week's  sales.  I  saw  the  previous 
week's  figures  were  $311.28.  I  wondered  at  that,  and 
said: 

"  Why,  Jim,  if  you  sell  $28,000.00  worth  a  year, 
you  should  have  about  $560.00  worth  of  sales  a 
week!" 

"  Oh,"  he  replied,  "  don't  you  know  this  is  the  quiet 
time  for  kitchen  goods?  You've  got  to  expect  some 
quiet  time,  you  know.  In  one  respect  it's  a  good  time 
for  you  to  take  the  store  over,  for  you'll  have  time 
enough  to  get  yourself  fully  familiar  with  the  store." 

"  You  know,  Dawson,"  he  went  on,  "  if  you  were 
to  take  over  this  store  about  September  or  October, 
when  you're  simply  rushed  to  death  with  business, 
it  might  easily  put  you  on  your  back.  You  might 
lose  a  tremendous  lot  of  business  just  because  it  came 
too  quick  for  you  to  handle,  whereas,  buying  the  store 
when  the  business  is  quiet  will  give  you  a  chance  to 
learn  how  to  handle  it." 

I  decided  that,  as  soon  as  possible,  I  would  go  over 
my  stock  carefully  and  rearrange  it  and  if  I  should 


Ready  to  Go  Ahead  9 

happen  to  find  any  dead  stock  I'd  have  a  sale  and 
clean  it  out  and  buy  a  lot  of  new  stock;  and,  believe 
me,  I'd  give  old  Barlow  the  biggest  run  for  his  money 
he  ever  had! 


CHAPTER  III 

MY   FIRST   DAY 

I  USED  to  think  that  old  Barlow  had  an  easy  time 
as  boss  of  my  former  store,  but  the  first  day,  there 
seemed  to  be  so  many  things  to  do,  so  many  things 
to  decide,  that  my  head  was  in  a  whirl. 

I  intended  to  begin  a  thorough  stock-taking,  but 
hadn't  a  chance  to  touch  it  —  so  many  things  cropped 
up. 

I  had  a  row  with  one  of  the  help,  a  fellow  named 
Larsen.  Larsen  had  been  at  the  store  for  over  thirty 
years.  He  was  there  before  Jim  Simpson  got  it  and 
he  was  with  two  of  the  proprietors  before  that.  He 
told  me  he  wanted  his  last  two  weeks'  pay.  When  I 
asked  him  what  he  meant,  he  said  that  Jim  had  told 
him  to  ask  me  for  it,  as  he  had  arranged  with  me  to 
pay  it. 

I  didn't  believe  him.  Jim  wouldn't  do  anything 
like  that,  I  was  sure,  and  I  told  Larsen  that  in  so 
many  words.  He  asked  me  if  I  thought  he  was  a  liar. 
I  told  him  he  knew  that  better  than  I  did.  I  told 
him  if  he  didn't  know  how  to  speak  to  his  superiors, 
he  could  just  pack  his  things  and  go,  and  I  would 
have  him  know  that  I  was  boss  there.  Larsen 
shrugged  his  shoulders  and  said : 

"  You  go  with  me  and  see  Simpson  before  he  runs 
away.  You  ask  him  whether  I  lie  or  not.  I  don't 

10 


My  First  Day  11 

insult  you.  I  simply  tell  you  what  I  know.  You 
call  me  a  crook !  If  you  were  an  older  man  you  would 
know  better.  I've  been  here  thirty  years.  No  one 
has  ever  questioned  me.  My  word  is  as  good  as 
his." 

To  please  him  I  said  we  would  go  and  see  Jim 
the  next  day  at  his  home.  I  couldn't  go  that  night, 
for  I  was  too  busy.  Jim  called  in  at  the  store  for 
a  few  minutes  in  the  morning,  and  said  he  expected 
to  be  around  for  a  few  days  in  case  I  wanted  to  see 
him  about  anything. 

I  told  Betty  that  evening  about  the  dispute  with 
Larsen,  and  to  my  surprise  she  sided  with  him.  It 
looked  as  if  Betty  and  mother  had  got  up  a  conspiracy 
to  disagree  with  everything  I  did!  Still,  thought  I, 
"  what  do  women  know  of  business  ?  " 

I  thought  Betty  was  right  in  one  thing,  however, 
when  she  said  to  me: 

"  Did  Mr.  Barlow  ever  speak  to  you  about  knowing 
your  place?  " 

"  Why,  no,"  I  said. 

"  I'll  tell  you  why,  boy.  You  see,  he  knows .  he's 
boss,  and  everybody  else  knows  it,  and  he  knows 
that  if  he  is  to  get  the  best  out  of  his  people  he  has 
got  to  get  them  to  work  with  him  and  not  for  him. 
The  way  you  treated  Larsen  will  tend  to  make  him 
merely  work  for  you  and  not  for  the  interests  of  the 
business.  He  will  simply  use  you  as  a  makeshift 
until  he  can  get  something  else.  If  you  want  to  get 
the  very  best  out  of  the  people  who  work  for  you, 
you  have  got  to  take  a  real  interest  in  them,  and  treat 
them  with  the  same  courtesy  that  you  want  to  be 
treated  with." 


12        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

I  was  just  going  to  tell  her  that  I  couldn't  be  the 
boss  there  unless  I  made  them  keep  their  place,  but 
she  held  up  her  hand  and  said: 

"  Wait  a  minute,  boy.  I'm  a  year  younger  than 
you,  but  I'm  older  than  you  in  many  respects.  You 
are  only  a  big  boy  and  you  want  some  one  to  look 
after  you."  She  blushed  a  little  as  she  said  this. 
"  You  are  impetuous.  You  say  things  which  you  don't 
mean.  You  speak  so  sharply  at  times  that  people  mis- 
understand your  naturally  kind  disposition  and  think 
that  you  are  fault-finding.  And  then  you  are  really 
so  conceited  that  you  hate  to  admit  you  are  wrong, 
with  the  result  that  you  leave  people  with  a  wrong 
impression  of  you.  Do  you  remember  that  saying 
about  the  man  who  conquers  himself  being  greater  than 
he  who  masters  a  city?  You  should  learn  to  think 
a  little  more  carefully  about  what  you  say  before  you 
say  it.  Remember  that  you  can  say  something  sharp 
to  the  help  and  then  forget  it  the  next  minute;  but 
they  won't  forget  it.  They  will  think  it  over  and  it 
will  rankle  and  they  will  feel  spiteful  toward  you, 
and  they'll  do  something  to  '  get  even '  with  you." 

I  hated  to  admit  it,  but  I  had  got  a  hunch  that  Betty 
was  very  nearly  right.  I  decided  I  would  try  to  con- 
trol my  tongue  a  little  more,  and  would  remember  that 
the  people  who  worked  for  me  would  do  better  work 
for  me  if  they  liked  and  respected  me. 

The  next  morning,  I  went  around  with  Larsen,  as 
I  had  promised  him,  to  see  Jim  Simpson,  and  found 
that  he  had  gone.  He  had  left  a  note  for  me  saying 
that  he  found  he  had  an  opportunity  to  get  away  and 
that  he  would  write  me  his  address  in  a  few  days. 

Larsen  saw  me  twisting  his  note  in  my  ringers  while 


My  First  Day  13 

I  was  thinking  about  it  there,  and  he  came  over  and 
said: 

"  Can  I  see  that  note,  Boss?  " 

I  passed  it  to  him.  He  read  it,  shook  his  head,  and 
said: 

"  Guess  you  believe  me  now,  don't  you,  Mr.  Black?  " 

I  nodded.     That's  all  I  could  do. 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  said: 

"  Well,  two  weeks'  money  don't  hurt  me  very  much. 
I  hope,  Boss,  he  hasn't  stung  you." 

I  went  cold  at  the  thought  of  it.  I  didn't  think  it 
could  be  true,  but,  when  I  came  to  think  it  over,  I 
realized  that  I  had  taken  his  word  for  almost  every- 
thing. 

I  went  home  and  told  mother  and  Betty  about  it, 
and  they  advised  me  to  get  in  touch  with  Mr.  Bar- 
low at  once.  I  said  I  wouldn't  do  that  —  I  wasn't 
going  to  leave  a  man  and  then  two  or  three  days  after- 
wards run  to  him  for  help.  I  thought  of  Fellows 
of  the  Flaxon  Advertising  Company.  I  telephoned  his 
house  and,  fortunately,  caught  him,  and  he  came  right 
around  to  see  me. 

He  asked  me  if  I  had  had  a  lawyer  draw  up  the 
agreement.  I  told  him  "  no."  He  asked  me  if  I  had 
had  an  inventory  made  before  buying  the  store.  I 
told  him  "  no."  He  asked  me  if  I  had  verified  the 
profits  of  the  business  for  the  last  two  years.  I  told 
him  "no."  He  asked  me  if  I  had  had  the  books 
audited  at  all.  I  told  him  "  no." 

"  Good  God,  lad,"  he  said,  "  what  have  you  done, 
anyhow  ?  " 

And  then  I  acted  like  a  fool.  I  burst  out  crying 
and  told  him  that  what  I  had  done  had  been  to  make 


14        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

an  ass  of  myself  and  to  give  Jim  Simpson  $6500.00. 

He  thought  a  minute  and  said : 

"  Well,  I  should  think  the  store  would  be  worth 
very  nearly  that,  from  what  I  know  of  it.  It  may 
not  be  so  bad,  after  all." 

But,  when  I  told  him  that  I  had  also  given  Jim  a 
note  for  $3500.00  he  persuaded  me  to  go  to  see  a  law- 
yer in  the  morning,  and  promised  that  he  would  tele- 
phone to  Boston  to  arrange  with  a  jobber  whom  he 
knew  and  from  whom  I  knew  Jim  Simpson  bought 
goods,  to  send  some  one  over  to  help  me  take  an 
inventory. 


CHAPTER  IV 

IN   TROUBLE 

I  SPENT  a  wretched  night  wondering  if  Jim,  after 
all,  would  play  such  a  dirty  trick  as  to  rob  an  old 
schoolmate. 

Fellows  telephoned  me  from  his  office  and  said  that 
if  I  would  come  there,  the  lawyer  was  there  and  we 
could  all  talk  the  matter  over  together. 

In  ten  minutes  I  knew  the  truth,  I  learned  that  the 
transfer  was  made  properly  to  me  and  that  I  was  re- 
sponsible for  that  $3500.00,  and,  according  to  the  deed 
of  transfer  which  Jim  gave  me,  the  note  for  $3500.00 
was  payable  on  demand. 

I  told  Barrington,  the  lawyer,  that  I'd  swear  the 
note  was  payable  one  year  after  date.  He  asked  me, 
"Are  you  sure?" — and  if  he  hadn't  asked  me  that 
I  would  have  been,  but  as  it  was  I  was  wondering 
which  it  was.  He  asked  me  again,  "  Are  you  sure  it 
isn't  a  payable-on-demand  note?  "  I  didn't  know,  and 
I  didn't  know  Jim's  address! 

Barrington  then  said  that  the  best  thing  to  do  was 
to  get  an  inventory  made  as  quickly  as  possible,  and 
then  try  to  get  hold  of  Simpson  and  see  if  we  couldn't 
adjust  it  with  him. 

"  But,"  he  said  —  and  he  looked  at  me  very  sternly 
— "  if  anything  is  done  it  will  be  purely  because  of  his 
generosity  or  because  of  the  fear  we  can  instill  into 
him.  You  are  legally  responsible  for  the  $3500.00 

15 


16        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

and  apparently  it  is  payable  on  demand.  How  much 
is  the  farm  worth  on  which  you  gave  him  a  mort- 
gage?" 

I  told  him  it  was  worth  about  $8,500.00. 

"  Hum,"  he  said,  and  pursed  his  lips. 

"  Couldn't  I  deed  it  to  Mother  or  somebody,"  I  said, 
"and  save  it?" 

He  shook  his  head.  "  No,  that  wouldn't  be  legal," 
he  said. 

"  How  I  wish  I  had  come  to  you  at  first! "  I  said. 

"  Yes,"  he  replied  absentmindedly,  "  that's  the 
trouble  with  many  so-called  business  men.  They 
never  think  of  using  a  lawyer  to  keep  them  out  of 
trouble,  but  come  to  them  only  after  they  have  got 
into  it ! " 

A  salesman  from  Bates  &  Hotchkin  came  in  the 
afternoon  and  said  his  firm  had  told  him  about  my 
wanting  an  inventory  taken  and  offered  to  stay  with 
me  till  it  was  done. 

"  What  will  it  cost?  "  I  asked.  My  $1500.00  began 
to  look  very  small  to  me  then. 

He  smiled  and  shook  his  head,  and  said : 

"  It  won't  cost  you  anything.  If  we  can  be  of  serv- 
ice to  you,  we  want  to  be." 

I  had  also  arranged  for  an  accountant  to  go  over  the 
books.  He  was  a  Scotchman,  named  Jock  McTavish, 
and  he  was  to  come  the  next  morning. 

Betty  urged  me  to  have  him  install  a  proper  ac- 
counting system  for  me  while  he  was  on  the  job.  I 
shook  my  head  and  said : 

"  There  may  not  be  anything  worth  putting  an  ac- 
counting system  in  for.  I've  ruined  my  life  and  I've 
spoiled  my  chances  of  your  — " 


In  Trouble  17 

She  put  her  hand  over  my  mouth  and  said : 

"  Don't  be  silly!  Now  is  the  time  to  see  if  you  have 
any  manhood  in  you.  Anybody  can  talk  big  when 
everything  goes  right!  No  one  ever  made  a  success 
without  having  some  failure.  Don't  you  remember 
what  Lord  Beaconsfield  said,  when  he  was  asked  how 
he  attained  success  ?  " 

I  shook  my  head  gloomily. 

"  He  said,  '  By  using  my  failures  as  stepping  stones 
to  success ! ' 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  I've  certainly  one  big  stepping 
stone  here." 

"  Quite  right,"  said  she,  "  then  step  up  it  like  a 
man!" 

A  girl  like  Betty,  I  thought,  was  worth  bucking 
up  for!  I  just  set  my  teeth  and  decided  I  would  pull 
through  the  thing  somehow ! 

I  thought  the  worst  had  happened,  but  I  found  it 
hadn't.  Herson,  the  salesman  from  Bates  &  Hotch- 
kin,  completed  the  inventory,  the  next  day,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  others  in  the  store.  I  can't  say  I 
did  much  to  help,  for  I  was  simply  consumed  with 
anxiety.  All  I  did  was  to  serve  customers  while  it  was 
going  on,  and  that  helped  to  keep  me  from  worrying 
too  much. 

Herson  came  over  to  me  when  he  finished  the  in- 
ventory and  said : 

"  I'm  afraid  you  are  going  to  be  sadly  disappointed 
at  the  figures.  I  have  put  the  goods  in  at  their  present 
valuation,  as  near  as  I  can  figure  it,  and  I  find  that 
there  are  $8,100.00  worth." 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  I  have  lost  over  a  thousand  dollars 
on  that  stock  —  $1,360.00!  " 


18        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  You  surely  have,"  said  he. 

"  Well,"  I  thought,  "  even  so,  there's  a  chance  of 
recovering,  and  Betty  is  looking  to  me  to  make  good 
and  I  must !  " 

But  there  was  worse  to  come!  McTavish,  the  ac- 
countant, found  that  the  average  sales  for  the  last  two 
years  were  only  $22,000.00  in  round  figures,  and  I  had 
estimated  at  $28,000.00. 

"  My,"  I  said  to  him,  "  that  will  bring  the  profits 
down  to  about  $40.00  a  week ! " 

"  No,"  he  replied,  "  they'll  no  be  mooch  over  half 
o'  that." 

"Why?"  I  asked  in  amazement. 

"  Because,"  said  he,  "  you  based  your  estimate  of 
pr-rofits  on  the  percentage  of  expense.  Therefore, 
Meester  Black,  the  less  your  sales  are,  the  gr-reater 
becomes  the  percentage  of  expense." 

I  didn't  quite  follow  this,  but  he  continued: 

"  Ye  should  set  a  dead-line  of  expense  and  depart- 
mentize  your  costs." 

I  looked  quite  mystified  by  this,  and  he  explained : 

"  Do  ye  noo  compr-rehend  ?  I  mean  ye  should  have 
only  a  certain  percentage  of  expense  for  rent,  salaries, 
advertising  and  se-emilar  items,  and  then  plan  your 
expenses  not  to  exceed  these  percentages." 

"I  see,"  said  I.     "Will  you  help  me  with  that?" 

"  I  surely  will.  I  can  give  the  matter  some  atten- 
tion in  aboot  a  week,"  said  he. 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  so  far  as  you  can  see,  the  busi- 
ness, instead  of  showing  me  a  profit  of  about  $60.00 
a  week,  will  show  me  only  a  profit  of  about  $25.00." 

"  Just  aboot  that,"  he  replied.  "  Indeed,  it  will  ap- 
proximate somewhat  less.  There  is  one  other  matter, 


In  Trouble  19 

Mr.  Black,  I  would  suggest  you  do  at  once,  and  that 
is,  let  me  see  the  agreement  you  had  wi'  that  mon, 
Simpson." 

"  That's  at  Barrington's,"  I  said. 

"  Well,  can  we  no  get  hold  of  Barrington  noo?  " 

"  Surely.     I'll  introduce  you  to  him." 

"  Don't  fash  yoursel',"  said  he  with  a  smile,  "  that'll 
no  be  necessary,  for  he  was  in  the  store  while  ye  were 
at  yer  lunch  to-day  and  I  had  a  convarsation  with 
him." 

"  What's  the  trouble,  then?"  I  asked. 

"  Merely  this,"  said  he,  and  he  put  his  arm  on  my 
shoulder  very  kindly.  "  That  mon,  Simpson,  left 
$527.00  worth  of  accounts  which  he  did  no  pay  and  I 
believe  by  the  agreement  ye  made  wi'  him  that  ye're 
liable  for  them." 

I  was  too  thunderstruck  to  say  anything!  What  a 
hash  I  had  made  of  my  first  week's  business!  So  far 
as  I  could  see,  I  had  given  up  a  good  job  for  one  with 
very  little  more  real  money,  but  a  lot  of  care  and 
worry;  I  had  been  robbed  of  about  $1,300.00  in  stock 
and  $500.00  in  unexpected  liabilities.  My  first  week's 
business,  then,  showed  me  a  loss  of  nearly  $2,000.00! 
I  began  to  think  I  was  not  so  all-fired  clever  as  I 
thought  I  was! 

Betty  was  a  little  brick !  When  I  told  her  all  about 
it,  she  said: 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  anything  so  very  dreadful  in  that. 
If  you  have  it  in  you  to  make  a  business  man,  you  can 
soon  increase  the  sales  of  the  store  so  that  you  will  be 
making  all  you  thought  you  would,  and  perhaps  it 
won't  hurt  you  to  lose  a  little  money  at  the  beginning. 
Even  now,  you  are  much  better  off  than  a  great  many 


20        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

other  people  are.  If  only  Simpson  doesn't  demand 
his  $3,500.00  at  once,  so  that  you  don't  lose  the  farm  " 
—  I  shivered  at  the  thought  — "  you'll  pull  through 
all  right." 

When  I  figured  up  the  sales  at  the  end  of  the  week 
there  was  nothing  like  the  $560.00  that  I  was  figuring 
on.  It  was  only  $281.15.  I  had  more  respect  then 
for  proprietors  of  retail  stores  than  I  had  a  week  be- 
fore! I  hoped  that  next  week  I  would  have  that  di- 
vision of  expense  worked  out  so  that  I  could  know  just 
what  my  expenses  were  going  to  be. 


CHAPTER  V 

BETTY   MAKES   A   PROMISE 

ON  the  following  Monday,  I  was  in  the  store,  feel- 
ing kind  of  blue  over  the  general  muddle  I  had  made 
of  things,  when  who  should  go  by  but  Betty  and  Stig- 
ler!  If  there  was  one  man  in  the  town  I  disliked,  it 
was  Stigler.  He  was  one  of  those  narrow- faced  in- 
dividuals who  goes  around  with  a  perpetual  sneer.  I 
never  heard  of  him  saying  or  doing  anything  good  to 
any  one.  It  was  said  of  him  that  he  was  so  mean  that 
he  grew  a  wart  on  the  back  of  his  neck  to  save  buying 
a  collar  button ! 

Stigler  was  in  love  with  Betty.  I  didn't  blame  him 
for  that;  but  what  she  could  see  in  a  fellow  like  him 
got  me !  I  was  jealous  —  I  know  I  was  jealous,  and 
I  told  Betty  so  when  she  accused  me  of  it  that  night. 

"  Dawson,"  she  said,  "  you  act  like  a  jealous,  spoiled 
child." 

And  then  the  love,  that  had  been  growing  in  my 
heart,  became  too  great  to  contain. 

"  Betty,"  I  cried  hotly,  "  you  know  how  much  I  love 
you!  Do  you  wonder  that  I'm  jealous,  when  I  see 
you  with  that  man  ?  " 

"  And  why  shouldn't  I  be  with  him  ?  "  she  said 
archly. 

"  Well,  you  can't  be  with  him  any  more,"  I  said. 

"  Hoity-toity !  and  who  are  you  to  tell  me  whom  I 
shall  or  shall  not  go  with  ?  " 

Her  words  were  discouraging,  but  something  in 
her  eyes.  .  .  . 

21 


22        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

Something  had  happened  to  the  town  when  I  left 
Betty's  house.  The  hard  pavements  were  gone,  and 
instead  of  them  were  beautiful  silvery  clouds.  The 
ordinary  air  had  changed  into  exhilarating  ether.  I 
wanted  to  sing;  I  wanted  to  tell  people  of  my  good  for- 
tune ;  but  everybody  must  have  known  it  to  have  looked 
at  me.  I  kept  saying  to  myself,  "  I'm  engaged  to  be 
married !  I'm  engaged  to  be  married !  "  When  the 
teams  went  by  they  went  "  Click  clackety  click !  —  click 
clackety  click !  —  I'm  engaged  to  be  married !  —  I'm  en- 
gaged to  be  married !  " 

Mother  had  gone  to  bed  when  I  got  home,  but  I  woke 
her  up  and  told  her  the  good  news.  I  expected  her  to 
be  surprised,  but  she  wasn't  a  bit.  All  she  said  was: 
"  Well,  everybody  knew  it  but  you !  " 

I  suppose  it  is  because  Love  is  blind  that  I  didn't 
know.  I  told  mother  that  we  were  going  to  be  mar- 
ried on  the  i Qth  of  June. 

"  Do  you  think  it  wise  to  get  married  so  soon?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  I  said,  "  I  need  the  help  of  a  woman 
like  Betty  in  my  business.  You  see,  mother,  her  busi- 
ness experience  and  her  — " 

Mother  kissed  me  on  the  lips  and  said : 

"  Don't  bother  to  think  up  any  excuses  —  Love  itself 
is  sufficient  excuse  for  that." 

I  saw  some  tears  in  mother's  eyes.  I  put  my  arm 
around  her  waist  and  said: 

"  You  are  happy,  aren't  you,  mother,  dear?  " 

She  kissed  me  again  and  pushed  me  from  her,  and 
hurried  to  her  room.  When  she  got  to  the  door  she 
turned  around  and  said,  "  God  bless  you,  my  boy." 

Believe  me,  I  had  some  mother. 


CHAPTER  VI 

UNTYING  SOME  TANGLES 

ON  Tuesday  I  received  a  request  for  "  immediate 
payment "  of  a  demand  note  for  $3,500.00,  through 
some  shyster  lawyer  in  New  York. 

I  took  it  up  to  Barrington  and  asked  him  what  to 
do  about  it.  He  gave  me  a  paper  to  sign,  and  I  put 
my  name  to  it  without  bothering  to  read  it.  He  then 
spoke  sharply  to  me,  and  said : 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  lad,  haven't  you  learned  better 
than  to  sign  your  name  to  a  paper  without  reading  it  ?  " 

"  B-but,"  I  said,  stammering,  "  it's  different  with 
you ! " 

"  Different  be  damned !  "  he  exclaimed  petulantly. 
Then,  "  Excuse  me,  young  man,  but  really,  for  a  man 
in  business  you  are  acting  very  childishly.  You 
thought  Jim  Simpson  was  your  friend  and  trusted  him. 
Now,  even  after  the  mess  you  got  into,  you  haven't 
learned  your  lesson,  and  you  sign  anything  I  ask  you 
to,  without  looking  at  it !  " 

I  read  it  through,  and  it  was  something  about  giving 
him  full  power  to  act  for  me  in  the  matter  of  the  note. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  this  is  going  to  cost  you  some 
money  "  —  I  winced  at  this  —  "  but  I'll  see  if  I  can't 
save  you  something." 

He  got  the  New  York  lawyer  on  the  long  distance 
and  offered  him  a  thousand  dollars  cash  in  full  settle- 

23 


24        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

ment  of  the  claim,  or  else  threatened  to  contest  the 
legality  of  the  note.  The  upshot  of  it  was  that  Bar- 
rington  made  a  trip  to  New  York  to  see  him,  and  they 
compromised  on  $1,250.00. 

When  Barrington  returned  from  New  York  he  came 
around  to  the  house  to  see  me. 

*'  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  think  I've  saved  you  some 
money  this  time.  I've  settled  that  claim  for  $1,250.00 
cash,  which  I  have  paid." 

He  gave  me  also  the  bill  of  expenses  which  he  had 
incurred.  I  put  the  figures  on  a  bit  of  paper  and 
twisted  it  nervously,  wondering  how  I  was  going  to  pay 
that  sum  of  money;  for  I  remembered  I  had  only 
$1,500.00  in  the  bank,  and  I  had  those  bills  to  pay  that 
Jim  left  behind  and  which  I  had  unknowingly  agreed 
to  assume.  Barrington  and  the  accountant  between 
them  compromised  on  those,  by  the  way,  at  seventy- 
five  cents  on  the  dollar,  but  there  was  nearly  $400.00 
to  pay  there,  and  if  I  paid  that  $1,250.00  with  the  ex- 
penses it  would  wipe  out  my  bank  account  completely. 
Barrington  looked  at  me  quizzically,  and  asked : 
"  What's  worrying  you  now,  young  man  ?  " 
I  told  him.  He  laughed,  and  then  remarked : 
"  That  needn't  worry  you  at  all.  You  have  your 
farm  clear  now  and  I'll  take  a  mortgage  on  it  for 
$1,500.00,  and  that  will  enable  you  to  pay  this  bill  up 
right  away  and  still  hold  your  farm.  I  was  just  look- 
ing for  an  investment  of  about  that  size.  You  are  no 
worse  off  than  before,  and  I  will  simply  have  a  lien  on 
the  farm  for  $1,500.00  instead  of  Simpson  having  one 
for  $3,500.00;  and  really,  in  this  case,  I  think  you  will 
be  much  safer." 

The  next  morning  we  fixed  up  the  mortgage. 


Untying  Some  Tangles  25 

I  hoped  then  that  I  was  through  with  the  troubles  of 
getting  the  business  from  Simpson.  But  when  I  re- 
viewed what  it  had  cost  me  I  wondered  why  I  ever  gave 
up  my  safe,  easy  job  with  Barlow !  I  think  the  trouble 
with  me  was  that  I  didn't  realize  that,  while  I  wasn't 
making  much  money,  I  certainly  wasn't  taking  any 
risk  and  was  learning  a  good  business.  I  realized  then 
how  stupidly  I  used  to  fool  away  a  lot  of  time  that  I 
was  paid  for.  When  I  thought  of  the  hours  I  often 
shirked  and  the  jobs  I  used  to  leave  undone,  I  won- 
dered that  Barlow  didn't  fire  me  and  the  other  fellows 
long  ago.  I  wondered  if  other  bosses  had  just  the 
same  trouble?  I  wondered  if  I  was  just  an  average 
store  clerk  ? 

What  a  different  view  you  take  of  things  when  you 
become  a  boss  yourself !  Already  I  felt  that  the  people 
working  for  me  should  consider  my  interests,  and  not 
hesitate  to  work  hard  for  me;  and  yet  when  I  was  a 
clerk  only  two  weeks  before  I  used  to  begrudge  doing 
the  least  thing  more  than  my  bare  duties  called  for,  and 
I  had  always  felt  I  ought  to  get  an  immediate  cash 
return  for  anything  extra  I  did.  For  the  first  time  I 
realized  that  I  used  to  panhandle  along  through  the 
week  just  working  for  the  pay  envelope  without  much 
thought  of  Barlow's  welfare  at  all. 

Well,  I  had  surely  learned  a  lesson.  I  was  a  wiser 
man  than  I  had  been  two  weeks  before.  In  that  brief 
time  more  things  had  happened  to  me  than  had  ever 
happened  before,  I  guess.  I  had  inherited  $8,000.00 
cash  and  a  farm  worth  $8,500.00;  I  had  bought  out 
Jim  Simpson,  and  then  found  only  $8,100.00  worth 
of  stock  when  I  thought  I  was  getting  $9,460.00;  I 
had  given  him  a  demand  note  for  $3,500.00  which  I 


26        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

thought  was  for  twelve  months;  I  had  assumed  over 
$400.00  worth  of  bills  of  which  I  didn't  know  any- 
thing at  all;  and,  finally,  I  had  found  that  the  busi- 
ness amounted  to  only  $22,000,00  a  year  instead  of 
$28,000.00. 

I  was  reciting  this  tale  of  woe  to  Betty  when  she 
remarked : 

"  Well,  you  can't  do  anything  else  wrong  just  yet, 
can  you  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  I  declared.  "  It  seems  to  me  that 
I  can't  do  anything  right !  " 

I  promised  Betty  to  follow  the  accountant's  advice 
and  set  a  deadline  of  expenses. 

He  and  I  had  worked  that  out.  It  seemed  that  my 
expenses  were  far  too  high  for  the  business  I  was  do- 
ing. Said  he: 

"  Ye  are  doing  noo  only  aboot  $22,000.00  a  year. 
Ye  hae  a  stock  of  approximately  $8,000.00,  and  ye 
really  should  be  doing  $42,000.00  a  year  wi'  it." 

"  How  do  you  figure  that  out  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  That's  on  the  tur-rn-over." 

"Turn-over?" 

"  Yes,  ye  ought  to  tur-rn  over  your  investment  in 
goods  three  and  a  half  times  a  year  —  that  is,  ye  ought 
to  sell  out  your  $8,000.00  stock  that  number  of  times ; 
and  as  ye  plan  to  add  aboot  50  per  cent,  for  the  pr-rofit, 
ye  should  sell  aboot  $42,000.00  worth  of  goods  within 
the  peeriod  of  a  year." 

"And  I  am  selling  only  $22,000.00?  Then  you 
mean  to  say  that  I  am  selling  only  about  half  as  much 
hardware  as  I  ought  to  with  my  present  stock  ?  " 

"  That  statement  of  yours  is  just  aboot  correct," 
said  he  with  a  nod. 


Untying  Some  Tangles  27 

"  Wait  a  minute !  "  I  cried  excitedly.  "  You've 
made  a  mistake.  I  don't  make  50  per  cent,  profit.  I 
make  only  33  1-3  per  cent,  all  around !  " 

"  Ye  mean,"  he  declared  quietly,  "  that  ye  make  only 
33  J~3  Per  cent-  on  sales-  To  get  that  percentage  ye 
hae  to  add  50  per  cent,  onto  your  cost.  Your  per- 
centage of  profit  on  sales  is  verra  deefferent  frae  your 
percentage  o'  profit  on  cost.  Bide  a  wee,"  said  he,  and 
he  did  some  rapid  figuring  on  a  slip  of  paper.  "  This 
will  perhaps  make  it  clearer  to  ye,"  and  he  handed  it 
to  me. 

I  never  realized,  until  he  worked  it  out,  just  the 
difference  between  profit  on  cost  and  profit  on  sales. 
Here  it  is : 

20%  added  to  cost  =  16%%    profit  on  selling  price 

25%  added  to  cost  =  20%        profit  on  selling  price 

30%  added  to  cost  =  23  -|-  %  profit  on  selling  price 

33^6%  added  to  cost  =  25%        profit  on  selling  price 

40%  added  to  cost  =  28  +  %  profit  on  selling  price 

50%  added  to  cost  =  33%%    profit  on  selling  price 

60%  added  to  cost  —  37  +  %  profit  on  selling  price 

75%  added  to  cost  =  42  -j-  %  profit  on  selling  price 

80%  added  to  cost  —  44-}-%  profit  on  selling  price 

go%  added  to  cost  =  47-$-%  profit  on  selling  price 

100%  added  to  cost  =  50%        profit  on  selling  price 

I  thought  the  whole  thing  over  carefully,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  what  I  had  to  do  was,  first  of  all,  to 
analyze  my  stock  and  see  if  there  were  any  items  in 
which  I  was  too  heavily  stocked,  and  if  so  to  reduce 
that  stock  as  soon  as  possible,  and  then  put  the  money 
realized  in  other  goods  that  would  turn  over  quickly. 
I  could  see  that  that  would  increase  the  entire  stock 
turn-over,  at  the  same  time  increasing  total  sales  by 
substituting  new,  fast-turning,  stock  for  the  excess 


28        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

stock  in  the  lines  I  then  had,  and  this  would  mean  re- 
ducing my  percentage  of  expense. 

The  accountant  had  remarked  that  increasing  the 
turn-over  was  the  big  secret  of  meeting  rising  costs, 
and  I  would  see  that  he  was  right.  My  head  was  in 
a  whirl  with  percentages,  costs,  selling  prices,  gross 
and  net  profits,  turn-over,  increased  cost  of  goods, 
higher  prices  of  labor  and  a  lot  of  other  things  going 
through  it  like  a  merry-go-round. 

I  decided  that  the  next  step  was  to  arrange  a  defi- 
nite system  of  keeping  track  of  expenses.  I  would 
divide  the  expenses  into  different  classes  and  see  that 
no  single  class  of  expense  exceeded  a  certain  limit 
which  I  would  set  for  it. 

Next,  I  would  build  up  a  logical  advertising  cam- 
paign. Talking  with  Fellows  had  converted  me  to 
the  value  of  advertising.  I  had  asked  him  if  there 
was  ever  a  time  when  a  man  could  afford  to  stop  adver- 
tising. He  replied,  "  Yep,  a  man  can  afford  to  stop 
advertising  when  he  can  afford  to  be  forgotten !  " 

Then  I  would  find  some  way  of  getting  my  help  — 
I  had  five  people  at  the  time  —  to  work  better  for  me 
than  they  seemed  to  have  been  doing.  They  seemed 
to  look  upon  me  as  a  joke.  I  didn't  know  that  I  could 
blame  them,  for  I  certainly  felt  like  several  kinds  of 
joke  myself. 

The  accountant  on  looking  over  my  expenses  had 
thought  that  my  salary  roll  was  too  high.  I  told  him 
that  in  that  case  I  would  cut  salaries  all  round.  His 
reply  was,  "  I  wouldna  do  that  if  I  were  ye.  A  more 
deesirable  plan  would  be  to  see  if  ye  canna  adjust  your 
affairs  to  give  them  more  money  " —  I  gasped  at  this 
— "  and  reduce  the  number  o'  your  employees." 


Untying  Some  Tangles  29 

I  hope  I  never  have  to  go  through  another  two  weeks 
like  the  first  two  after  I  bought  the  store.  I  was  only 
a  boy  when  Aunt  Emma  died  and  left  me  the  money, 
but  I  think  I  grew  up  quickly  —  at  least  Betty  said 
so.  She  thought  it  did  me  good. 

When  she  told  me  that,  I  cried  with  amazement : 

"  Doing  me  good  ?  —  to  lose  all  that  money  in  two 
weeks !  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  she  declared,  "  you're  just  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  you've  a  lot  to  learn,  and  you're 
much  nicer  to  be  with  than  you  were  before."  She 
gave  a  funny  little  smile,  as  she  continued,  "  You  know, 
boy,  you  were  awfully  conceited  —  you're  awfully  con- 
ceited now;  but  I'm  glad  to  notice  that  you're  not  so 
dead  sure  of  everything  as  you  used  to  be!  " 

"  Betty !  "  said  I  ...  But  what  happened  then  is 
nobody's  business  but  mine  —  and  Betty's. 


CHAPTER  VII 

GETTING  DOWN   TO    WORK 

OUR  total  sales  for  the  second  week  were  $401.75, 
over  a  hundred  dollars  better  than  the  previous  week. 
Nothing  like  the  $560.00  a  week  that  Jim  Simpson  had 
led  me  to  believe  the  store  was  doing,  but  not  so  bad  as 
it  might  be. 

There  was  one  thing  I  wished,  however,  and  that 
was  that  we  had  a  larger  cash  trade.  Out  of  the 
$400.00  business  we  did  the  second  week,  $160.00  was 
charged. 

I  found  out  that  Jim  Simpson  had  had  a  whole  lot 
of  book  debts  owing  him ;  but,  instead  of  turning  them 
over  to  me  at  a  discount,  as  the  accountant  told  me  he 
should  have  done,  he  had  collected  what  bills  he  could, 
and  then  gave  the  others  receipts  in  full  for  whatever 
they  could  pay. 

I  didn't  know  how  much  he  got  this  way,  but  old 
Peter  Bender,  the  carpenter,  had  come  in  for  some 
goods,  $18.75  worth,  charged,  and  had  told  Larsen 
that  Jim  had  gone  to  him  just  before  he  left  town  and 
had  given  him  a  "  clear  bill  of  health,"  as  he  called  it, 
for  $10.00,  in  settlement  of  his  account  of  sixty  odd 
dollars. 

I  told  Larsen,  whom  I  called  the  manager,  that  we 
must  cut  down  the  charge  business  and  build  up  the 
cash  trade.  Larsen  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  said, 

30 


Getting  Down  to  Work  31 

"  It's  up  to  you,  Boss."  Larsen  hadn't  seemed  to 
warm  up  to  me  at  all  after  that  scrap  over  the  two 
weeks'  pay  that  Jim  did  him  out  of,  even  after  I  had 
told  him  that  I  would  consider  him  manager  under 
me.  .  .  . 

At  the  beginning  of  the  third  week  I  put  in  three 
days  of  the  hardest  work  I  ever  did  in  my  life.  I  sup- 
pose my  help  thought  I  had  a  cinch  because  I  had  been 
working  out  a  division  of  expenses  with  the  aid  of  the 
accountant !  I  know  when  I  was  at  Barlow's  we  clerks 
used  to  grumble  because  we  did  all  the  work  while  old 
Barley  Water,  as  we  called  him,  used  to  spend  so  much 
time  in  his  little  office.  I  wished  I  could  make  my  help 
understand  that  I  was  working  for  them  as  well  as 
myself,  but  I  guessed  it  was  hopeless,  so  I  didn't  try 
—  then. 

Well,  this  is  how  we  divided  expenses.  The  ac- 
countant said: 

"  Let  us  feegure  our  plans  for  the  coming  year  on 
the  assumption  that  ye'll  do  $30,000.00  worth  o'  bees- 
iness.  That  is  an  increase  of  more  than  $7,000.00, 
but  this  store  ought  to  do  much  more  than  that. 

"  Your  total  expenses  should  be  aboot  twenty  per 
cent,  of  sales,  or  a  total  of  $6,000.00." 

"  What  are  they  at  present?  "  I  asked,  rather  shame- 
facedly, for  I  felt  I  ought  to  know  such  an  important 
thing  as  that. 

The  accountant  perceived  my  look  and  he  squeezed 
my  arm  sympathetically,  as  he  said : 

"  Dinna  worry  aboot  that,  laddie.  Ye're  noo  worse 
off  than  a  lot  o'  others  I  ken  in  that  respect.  Not  half 
the  dealers  in  the  country  have  an  analysis  o'  their  ex- 
penses." 


32        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

That  accountant  was  a  brick. 

Well,  the  accountant  told  me  that  my  present  ex- 
penses were,  in  round  figures,  $7,000.00. 

"  Gee !  that's  fierce !  "  I  said.  "  Have  I  got  to  cut 
down  expenses  $1,000.00?  " 

"  That's  just  aboot  what  ye  hae  to  do,"  was  the 
grave  reply. 

"But  how?"  I  said,  perplexed.  "I  can't  possibly 
do  it." 

"  Can't?  "  he  said,  and  raised  his  eyebrows.  "  Did 
you  no  ever  hear  aboot  the  rabbit  and  the  bull  pup?  " 

"No.     Shoot!" 

"  It's  verra  short,"  he  laughed.  "  A  rabbit  was  one 
day  chased  by  a  vicious  dog.  He  ran  as  har-rd  as  he 
could,  but  the  dog  had  nearly  caught  up  to  him,  so,  to 
escape,  he  ran  up  a  tree." 

"  But  a  rabbit  can't  climb  a  tree !  "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Not  generally,"  was  the  response,  "  but  this  rab- 
bit had  to!" 

How  some  silly  little  thing  like  that  makes  you 
think!  It  was  some  time  before  the  silence  was 
broken.  Then  I  said : 

"Well,  how  do  we  do  it?" 

"  This  diveesion  of  expenses  will  help  ye,"  he  said 
with  a  smile,  and  passed  over  this  paper. 

DIVISION  OF  EXPENSES  BASED  ON  ESTIMATE  OF  20  PER  CENT.  ON 
GROSS  SALES  OF  $30,000 


Salaries    

Per  Cent. 

II.O 

S^.^OO.OO 

Present  Cost 
$4,100.00 

Rent    

•*.o 

OOO.OO 

1,000.00 

Taxes  and  insurance  . 
Advertising    

i.S 

I.O 

450.00 
300.00 

460.00 
1  20.00 

General  Expenses 

1.5 

45O.OO 

750.00 

Delivery   . 

.5 

150.00 

50.00 

Getting  Down  to  Work  33 


Depreciation    

Per  Cent. 

•5* 

150.00 

Present  Cost 
350.00 

Heat  and  light  

.5 

150.00 

IIO.OO 

Bad  debts   

.5* 

150.00 

500.00 

20.O  $6,000.00  $7,440.00 

*  These  two  items  are  estimated  only,  for  the  records  of  the 
old  business  are  too  incomplete  to  insure  accurate  figures. 

I  looked  the  schedule  over. 

"  Then  my  expenses,"  I  said,  "  are  $1,440.00  more 
than  they  should  be  ?  " 

He  nodded.  "  And  dinna  forget,"  he  added,  "  that 
these  figures  are  based  on  $30,000.00  worth  o'  busi- 
ness. This  means  that  ye  maun  increase  your  sales 
aboot  $7,000.00  during  the  year.  Unless  ye  do,  the 
percentage  cost  o'  doing  business  is  going  to  be  con- 
seederably  higher  than  twenty  per  cent.  Unless  ye  can 
increase  your  business  ye'll  hae  to  decrease  your  ex- 
penses even  more  than  $1,440.00." 

"  Well,"  I  remarked  grimly,  "  bring  out  the  axe. 
How  are  we  going  to  cut  it  down  ?  " 

"  That's  the  brave  spirit !  "  Jock  replied.  Did  I  tell 
you,  that  Jock  McTavish  was  a  Scotchman  ?  Well,  he 
was  —  very  much  so.  Perhaps  that's  what  made  him 
such  a  good  accountant. 

"  Noo  I  know  ye  mean  business,"  he  said,  "  and  noo 
we  hae  the  facts  to  wor-rk  on.  There  are  numerous 
businesses  ruined  every  year  because  o'  the  lack  o' 
moral  courage  on  the  part  of  their  owners  to  face  facts 
and  cut  their  cloth  accordin'  tae  their  means.  Let's 
start  wi'  salaries.  What  are  they  noo  ?  " 

"  Let  me  see,"  I  mused.     "  I  think  they  are  —  " 

"  Never  mind,"  he  said  brusquely,  "  I  ken.     Get  into 


34        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

the  habit  o'  kennin',  laddie.     Ye'll  never  guess  your 
way  to  success.     Here  are  the  figures : 

Present  Suggested 

Black,  proprietor   $30.00  $25.00 

Larsen,  manager  20.00  20.00 

Jones,  clerk   12.00  ( 

Myrick,   clerk    10.00  5 

Wilkes,  boy   6.00  6.00 


Weekly  payroll  $78.00  $63.00 

"  I  really  think  ye  are  no'  justified  in  giving  yourself 
$30.00  a  week,"  he  continued.  "  Twenty  dollars 
would  be  nearer  correct.  However,  compromise  and 
for  the  time  being  mak'  it  $25.00. 

"  You  really  should'na  need  five  people  in  the  store 
the  noo,  for,  of  course,  you  intend  to  work  har-rd, 
don't  ye?" 

I  nodded. 

"  Well,  deesmiss  either  Jones  or  Myrick.  But,  give 
the  laddie  say  three  weeks  or  a  month  to  find  another 
posseetion.  It's  best  to  let  help  go  in  such  a  way  that 
they  will  feel  that  ye  hae  no  done  them  an  injustice. 
Tell  him  frankly  why  ye  do  it,  and  he'll  comprehend 
all  right." 

"  Won't  the  other  fellows  kick  at  having  to  do  more 
work  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Aye,  probably,  but  tell  them  that  it's  only  until 
the  business  is  on  its  feet  and  then  ye'll  do  better  for 
them." 

"  Very  well,  so  much  for  salaries.  Wrhat  about 
rent?  I  can't  cut  that  down,  can  I ?  " 

"  No,  that's  an  item  ye  canna  reduce  unless  the  land- 
lord will  give  it,  so  leave  that  for  the  time  being. 


Getting  Down  to  Work  35 

"  Taxes  and  insurance  ye  had  also  better  leave  as 
they  are  at  present." 

"  I  have  placed  advertising  at  $300.00,  I  said." 

"  Ye  can  reduce  that,  of  course,  and  ye  can  save 
something  there." 

"  No,  sir!  "  I  exclaimed.  "  That's  one  item  I  cer- 
tainly will  not  cut  a  penny !  " 

My  firmness  so  surprised  him  that  he  said  never  a 
word  more  about  it,  but  went  on  to  the  next  item. 

"  General  expenses,"  he  commented.  "  These  are 
'way  too  high.  Ye'll  doobtless  find  waste  rampant 
among  your  help  and  will  hae  to  adopt  stringent  meas- 
ures to  prevent  it.  Most  retail  stores  are  neglectful  o' 
this  item  —  they're  careless  and  waste  and  misuse  sup- 
plies. They  no'  seem  to  consider  what  kind  of  twine, 
paper,  and  such  things  are  best  and  most  economical 
for  their  particular  needs,  but  buy  in  a  haphazard 
manner  whatever  is  offered  tae  them.  Ye  want  to 
exercise  the  same  care  in  buying  supplies  that  ye  do 
in  buying  goods." 

"  All  right,"  I  said.  "  We'll  make  a  drive  at  that 
item  of  expense  and  try  to  put  it  where  it  belongs." 

"  Deleevery  expenses,"  continued  Jock,  "  are  lighter 
in  this  town  than  the  general  average.  Ye'll  probably 
save  something  here,  but  if  ye  cultivate  the  better  class 
trade,  which  that  mon  Simpson  did'na  do,  the  present 
low  delivery  cost  will  rise. 

"  '  Depreciation.'  This  item  depends  on  yourself, 
how  ye  buy  and  how  ye  keep  the  stock. 

"  Heat  and  light  expenses  are  verra  low  at  preesent, 
but  the  store  looks  glower  an'  gloomy  after  dusk.  Ye 
may  want  to  improve  that.  People  will  always  gravi- 
tate to  the  well-lighted  shop. 


36        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  And  bad  debts,"  he  concluded,  pursing  his  lips  — 
"  that's  an  item  ye'll  hae  to  watch  carefully.  I  should 
advise  ye  tae  ha'  some  deefinite  system  of  giving  credit 
and  some  plan  of  encouraging  cash  business.  At  pres- 
ent your  charrge  sales  are  far  too  numerous  for  your 
pocketbook  to  carry." 

Well,  that's  the  gist  of  what  was  said.  The  upshot 
was  that  I  determined  to  keep  each  item  as  near  the 
estimate  as  possible,  and  (this  was  Betty's  suggestion) 
if  any  one  item  proved  to  be  less  than  the  estimate,  this 
should  be  saved  and  not  spent  to  help  some  other  lame 
dog  of  expense  over  the  stile. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  WEDDING   AND   A   CONVENTION 

BARLOW  sent  a  copy  of  Hardware  Times  over  to  me, 
in  which  he  had  marked  an  item  about  the  State  Con- 
vention the  next  week.  I  showed  it  to  Betty  and  re- 
marked : 

"Of  course  I  can't  afford  to  go,  because  it  comes  the 
same  day  as  we  get  married,  and  you  remember,  Betty, 
we  agreed  that  we  would  not  have  our  honeymoon  until 
we  had  '  turned  the  corner  '." 

But  to  my  surprise,  she  urged  me  to  go.  She  said 
I  might  learn  a  whole  lot  there  by  meeting  other  hard- 
ware men  and  the  new  ideas  I  would  get  would  help 
me  very  much  under  present  conditions.  So  Betty  and 
I  decided  to  go  to  the  Convention  —  and  also  make  it 
our  honeymoon.  I  telephoned  Barlow  and  thanked 
him  for  sending  the  notice  to  me. 

The  salary  adjustment  I  left  until  I  should  return. 
Even  Jock  agreed  to  that. 

It  was  mighty  nice  of  Barlow  to  send  me  that  no- 
tice —  and  he  a  competitor  of  mine  —  or  rather,  I  was 
a  competitor  of  his,  I  guess! 

Thirteen  may  be  an  unlucky  number  for  some  folks, 
but  it  sure  was  the  lucky  day  for  me,  for  on  that  day 
Betty  and  I  were  married.  It  was  a  quiet  little  home 
wedding.  No  one  was  there  but  mother,  the  two  girls, 
and  a  cousin  of  Betty's  from  Hartford.  Everything 
went  off  splendidly. 

37 


38        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

We  went  on  the  12:30  train.  Barlow  went  ahead 
of  us  on  the  9:30.  I  extracted  a  promise  from  him 
before  he  left  that  he  wouldn't  tell  anybody  that  we 
were  just  married,  because  if  they  did  know  they  would 
tease  the  life  out  of  us.  He  never  let  it  out,  and  Betty 
and  I  had  the  time  of  our  lives. 

The  only  incident  that  marred  the  day  for  us  hap- 
pened at  the  station.  We  got  there  ten  minutes  be- 
fore train  time,  and  who  was  there,  leaning  against  the 
newsstand,  but  Stigler.  He  made  no  attempt  to  come 
near  us,  but  raised  his  hat  and  said  in  a  loud,  harsh 
voice,  "  Well,  Mrs.  Betty  Black,  so  you've  been  and 
got  married  after  all!  I  wish  yer  luck  of  your  bar- 
gain !  "  He  looked  me  up  and  down,  turned  his  head, 
spat  contemptuously  on  the  floor,  and  stalked  out  of 
the  station. 

"  Really,  that  man's  '  narsty '  temper  will  get  him 
into  trouble  some  of  these  days,"  so  quoth  I  to  Betty. 

She,  however,  did  not  treat  it  as  a  joke.  "  Be  care- 
ful of  that  man,  boy  dear,"  she  said.  "  He  really  hates 
you.  You  know  he  —  he  —  " 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  I  laughed  contentedly.  "  He 
wanted  to  get  my  Betty,  but  he  didn't." 

"  Be  careful  of  him,  boy  dear,  anyhow." 

The  train  then  came  in,  and  off  we  went  to  the  Con- 
vention, as  Betty  said,  combining  business  with  pleas- 
ure. 

Barlow  met  us  at  the  other  end,  and  turned  Betty 
over  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Ladies'  Entertainment 
Committee  and  took  me  over  to  Convention  Hall. 

"  You  two  will  have  to  endure  the  hardship  of  be- 
ing parted  for  an  hour  or  two,"  he  said  with  a  laugh. 

"  Look  after  him,  Mr.  Barlow,"  said  Betty.     "  Re- 


A  Wedding  and  a  Convention          39 

member  he  is  down  here  for  business,  and  he  must  not 
waste  his  time  with  nonsense." 

"  I  never  called  you  such  a  name  as  that  yet,"  I  said, 
and  then  we  parted. 

Barlow  was  an  awfully  interesting  man  to  talk  to! 
I  never  realized  how  human  he  was  before.  Certainly 
when  I  worked  for  him  all  the  clerks  at  that  time  looked 
upon  him  as  a  creature  outside  of  our  world  alto- 
gether. I  don't  think  it  ever  dawned  on  any  of  us  that 
he  was  a  real  human  being,  with  likes  and  dislikes  just 
the  same  as  ourselves,  and  we  never  credited  him  with 
any  thought  or  consideration  for  us  other  than  how 
much  work  he  could  get  out  of  us ! 

I  felt  a  little  ashamed  of  myself,  in  talking  with  him, 
to  see  how  really  interested  he  was  in  the  welfare  of  all 
his  employees.  The  thought  occurred  to  me,  while  he 
was  talking,  that,  as  he  was  interested  in  us,  why  in 
heaven's  name  hadn't  he  told  us  so? 

In  thinking  over  the  matter  later  on  it  seemed  to 
me  that  it  would  be  a  good  idea  for  the  boss  some- 
times to  ask  a  clerk  how  his  wife  was,  or  how  the  new 
baby  was  getting  along.  In  fact,  I  didn't  think  it 
would  hurt  to  take  a  clerk  home  to  dinner  occasionally 
—  not  often  enough  to  make  him  one  of  the  family,  as 
it  were,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  a  proprietor  could 
develop  a  great  feeling  of  loyalty  in  his  people  over  a 
round  of  beef,  or  a  good  cigar,  out  of  business  hours, 
than  in  any  other  way.  I  decided  to  try  it  some  time, 
when  things  got  better  settled  at  the  store. 

When  we  got  to  the  Convention  it  seemed  that  Bar- 
low knew  everybody,  and  he  appeared  to  be  very  popu- 
lar. 

A  fussy  little  man,  named  M inker,  who  seemed  to 


40        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

have  something  to  say  to  every  one,  introduced  him- 
self to  me,  and  we  had  some  conversation.  He  asked 
me  where  I  came  from,  and  I  told  him. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  then  you  know  Barlow  ?  " 

"  Very  well,  indeed,"  I  replied.  "  In  fact,  I  used 
to  work  for  him." 

"If  he  was  as  fine  a  boss  as  he  is  a  president,  you 
were  certainly  fortunate,"  he  returned. 

"  President  of  what  ?  "  I  asked,  in  surprise. 

He  looked  blank.  "  Why,"  he  said,  "  president  of 
the  association ! " 

"  I  didn't  know  he  had  ever  been  president  of  the 
association !  "  I  exclaimed.  "  He  never  said  anything 
about  it  to  us !" 

"  Hm !  "  he  said,  as  he  looked  at  me  over  his  glasses. 
"  Don't  you  ever  read  your  trade  papers  ?  " 

I  felt  a  little  bit  small  when  I  replied : 

"  N-no ;  "  and  then,  feeling  the  need  to  excuse  my- 
self for  it,  I  continued,  "  I've  really  been  too  busy." 

"  Ha !  "  he  jerked,  putting  his  head  on  one  side  like 
a  sparrow,  "  bad  habit  to  get  into,  that,  if  I  may  say 
so  without  being  rude.  Man  can't  know  how  best  to 
conduct  his  own  business  unless  he  has  some  idea  of 
what  other  people  are  doing.  Got  to  know  that  to 
keep  even  with  the  times.  Come  along  with  me." 

And  then  this  little  man,  who  I  afterward  found  was 
one  of  the  wealthiest  hardware  dealers  in  our  State, 
took  me  by  the  arm,  saying: 

"  I  am  going  to  introduce  you  to  a  trade  paper  man 
you  ought  to  know." 

He  took  me  up  to  a  group  of  men  who  were  laughing 
at  a  story  told  by  a  big,  raw-boned,  loose-jointed  man 
who  seemed  to  be  popular  with  the  others. 


A  Wedding  and  a  Convention,          41 

"  Rob,"  said  Minker,  "  come  here !  "  And  the  big 
man  good-naturedly  came  over,  put  his  arm  around  the 
little  man's  shoulder,  and  asked : 

"  Well,  what  is  it  this  time?  " 

"  I  want  you  to  meet  Mr.  Dawson  Black,  who  has 
only  recently  opened  a  store.  Mr.  Black,"  said  he, 
"  this  is  Mr.  Robert  Sirle,  known  to  all  his  friends  as 
Rob.  He  is  the  editor  of  Hardware  Times." 

"  I'm  mighty  glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Black,"  said  Mr. 
Sirle,  giving  me  a  hearty  handshake,  "  You  bought  Jim 
Simpson's  business,  didn't  you?  " 

"  Why,  yes!  "  I  replied.     "  How  do  you  know?  " 

He  smiled.  "  I  wish  I  had  known  you  a  few  months 
ago,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said.  "  I  might  have  saved  you 
a  bit  of  money.  Didn't  you  read  in  Hardware  Times 
some  two  years  ago  about  the  mess  Simpson  got  into  ?  " 

"Why,  no,"  I  returned,  "I  don't  know  as  I  —  I 
—  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  don't  subscribe  to  trade  papers. 
I  haven't  time  to  read  them." 

I  would  like  to  tell  you  what  this  big  Westerner  said. 
I  am  not  sure  whether  it  is  what  he  said  or  the  way 
he  said  it,  but  we  sat  down  and  we  had  a  very  serious 
talk,  in  which  he  told  me  how  necessary  it  was  for  a 
business  man  to  watch  at  all  times  the  development  of 
his  trade;  how  the  reading  of  trade  papers  kept  him 
constantly  posted,  and  continually  gave  him  new  ideas. 
He  gave  me  some  excellent  pointers,  and  invited  me  to 
write  to  him  any  time  he  could  be  of  help  to  me. 

I  at  once  subscribed  for  two  copies  of  his  paper  to 
be  sent  to  the  store  —  one  for  myself  and  one  for  the 
salesmen.  The  last  was  his  suggestion.  I  felt  it 
would  be  a  good  investment,  for,  as  he  said,  when  the 
clerks  read  the  magazine  they  get  interested  in  the  big- 


42        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

ger  things  about  the  business,  they  learn  more  about 
the  goods,  and  get  to  appreciate  some  of  the  boss's 
responsibility  and  trouble. 

It  certainly  was  a  fine  thing  for  me  to  meet  this  man, 
representing  a  paper  whose  sole  object  appeared  to 
be  to  help  the  retail  merchant. 

Some  wonderfully  interesting  talks  were  given. 
One  discussion  which  interested  me  greatly  was  about 
giving  credits.  Credit  appeared  to  be  the  bane  of 
the  hardware  man's  life.  Mr.  Sirle  had  charge  of  a 
question  box,  and  gave  some  fine  suggestions  which  I 
decided  I  would  try  to  adapt  to  my  business. 

One  other  thing,  as  soon  as  it  was  mentioned, 
aroused  a  lot  of  heated  discussion  —  that  was  mail-or- 
der competition.  Even  in  my  short  experience  I  had 
felt  the  pressure  of  these  mail-order  houses,  but  some- 
how or  other  I  had  taken  it  as  a  natural  evil,  and  had 
not  thought  of  taking  any  particular  steps  to  combat  it. 
One  thin,  cadaverous  man  voiced  my  thoughts  when 
he  said  in  a  mournful  drawl : 

"  The  best  thing  to  do  is  to  appeal  to  the  patriotism 
of  the  people.  We  live  in  the  town,  they  know  us,  and 
they  are  with  us  all  the  time,  and  their  very  friendship 
for  us  ought  to  be  enough  to  make  them  give  us  the 
business.  I  believe  we  all  ought  to  have  posters  say- 
ing *  Buy  in  your  home  town '  or  something  like  that, 
and  if  you  say  this  to  the  people  long  enough,  they'll 
do  it." 

As  soon  as  he  finished  a  short,  roly-poly  kind  of  man 
jumped  excitedly  to  his  feet,  and,  having  obtained  per- 
mission to  speak,  said : 

"  I'm  sorry  I  can't  agree  with  Mr.  Jenks.  It's  all 
right  to  talk  patriotism,  but,  hang  it  all,  is  there  any 


A  Wedding  and  a  Convention          43 

one  here  who  would  buy  from  his  home  town  if  he 
could  buy  cheaper  elsewhere?  I'll  bet  every  one  of 
us  here  buys  things  out  of  our  own  towns.  I  know  I 
buy  my  clothes  in  Boston,  and  my  wife  buys  her  shoes 
when  she  goes  to  New  York  to  visit  her  sister.  I  can 
get  better  clothes  and  cheaper  clothes  in  Boston  than 
I  can  in  my  home  town,  and  I  should  consider  myself  a 
poor  business  man  if  I  put  up  with  inferior  clothes  at 
a  high  price,  just  to  support  some  local  man  who 
couldn't  compete  fairly  with  Boston  merchants. 

"  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  it's  just  a  question  of  compe- 
tition, and  I  think  it's  all  poppycock  to  talk  about  ap- 
pealing to  a  man's  sentiment  about  his  home  town. 
All  things  being  equal,  I  believe  the  local  man  would 
get  the  business  every  time.  But  if  a  man  can  buy  a 
stove  cheaper  from  the  mail-order  house  than  he  can 
from  me,  I  shouldn't  expect  to  get  the  business. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  very  few  things  that 
the  mail-order  house  can  beat  us  on.  I  know  a  fellow 
came  into  my  store  a  few  months  ago  and  told  me  he 
could  buy  a  stove  I  was  selling  cheaper  from  the  mail- 
order house.  I  took  him  up  on  it,  and  said  I  didn't 
believe  he  could.  He  showed  me  the  stove  in  the  cata- 
log, and  I  could  see  that  it  wasn't  the  same  thing  I 
had,  and  wasn't  as  good.  I  pointed  out  to  him  the 
difference,  and  he  said,  '  Yes,  but  look  at  the  difference 
in  the  price ! '  He  had  forgotten  that  he  had  to  pay 
the  freight,  and,  when  that  was  put  on,  there  was 
mighty  little  difference  between  the  two.  Then  I  said 
to  him :  '  You  send  for  that  stove  and  set  it  up  beside 
the  one  I  have  here,  and,  when  you  get  them  side  by 
side,  if  you  can  honestly  say  that  mine  isn't  the  better 
value  for  your  money,  I'll  pay  the  bill  on  your  stove ! ' 


44        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  He  hesitated  at  that,  and  then  I  told  him  about  a 
woman  who  bought  one  of  these  kitchen  cabinets  from 
a  mail-order  house,  and,  when  she  got  it,  it  was  all 
banged  up,  and  she  had  no  end  of  trouble  in  getting  it 
straightened  out,  besides  having  to  wait  about  six 
weeks  before  it  came.  She  reckoned  up  afterward 
that  if  she  had  bought  it  of  me  she'd  have  been  dollars 
in  pocket  and  could  have  seen  just  what  it  looked  like 
before  buying  it.  That  settled  him,  and  he  bought  the 
stove  from  me !  " 

That  started  me  thinking,  and,  going  home  on  the 
train,  I  had  a  talk  with  Mr.  Barlow  about  it,  and  also 
about  the  question  of  credits,  for  these  were  the  two 
things  that  impressed  me  most  at  the  whole  conven- 
tion, although  there  were  many  other  interesting  things 
taken  up. 

"  I  wonder,"  said  I  to  Mr.  Barlow,  "  whether  it 
would  be  possible  for  us  to  kind  of  work  together  on 
credits  —  whether,  if  I  were  to  tell  you  what  custom- 
ers owed  me  money,  it  would  save  you  getting  in 
badly  with  them,  and  you  do  the  same  with  me?  " 

I  felt  very  nervous  in  making  this  proposition,  for  I 
didn't  know  whether  it  was  proper  or  not.  I  had  never 
given  such  things  as  credits  or  competition  the  least 
thought  while  I  was  working  with  Barlow.  I  was 
surprised  and  delighted  at  the  fine  way  in  which  he 
said: 

"  Why,  certainly  I  will.  Come  up  to  the  store  and 
talk  it  over  with  me." 

I  made  an  appointment  with  him  for  the  following 
night  to  discuss  a  policy  to  adopt  for  mutual  protection 
on  credits,  and  also  on  fighting  mail-order  competi- 
tion. 


A  Wedding  and  a  Convention          45 

I  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  wonderful  thing  a 
convention  is.  I  had  learned  more  about  business  in 
those  three  days  than  I  ever  knew  before. 

When  I  weighed  the  cost  of  going  to  the  convention 
against  the  benefits  I  got  out  of  it,  I  considered  that  I 
had  made  a  good  investment  —  not  counting  the  hap- 
piness of  a  honeymoon! 


CHAPTER  IX 

A   GOOD   PLAN    BLOCKED 

I  HAD  promised  to  get  to  Barlow's  as  soon  after 
eight  as  I  could,  and  I  was  there  at  ten  minutes  past. 
Barlow  welcomed  me  and  led  me  to  his  office  in  the 
rear,  and  there  I  met  with  a  surprise,  for  who  should 
be  sitting  there  in  his  office  but  Stigler,  who  ran  the 
only  other  hardware  store  in  town. 

Stigler  didn't  attempt  to  rise  when  I  came  in;  but 
just  nodded  curtly  and  said,  "  Howdy?  " 

I  looked  blank  for  a  minute,  and  then  said : 

"  I  see  you  are  busy,  Mr.  Barlow.  I'll  come  in 
again." 

"  Sit  right  down,  Dawson,"  he  replied,  "  for  if  we 
are  going  to  help  each  other  on  credits  and  on  mail- 
order competition,  we  all  need  to  get  together,  and  it 
would  not  be  fair  for  you  and  me  to  discuss  this  mat- 
ter without  asking  Mr.  Stigler's  help  also." 

"  Well,"  said  Stigler,  "  if  you  fellers  can  show  me 
anything  that'll  save  me  a  dollar,  I'm  on.  But  I'm 
from  Missouri!  K-ha!" 

His  laugh  was  like  the  sound  of  a  cork  coming  out 
of  a  bottle. 

Barlow  then  explained  to  him  what  we  purposed 
doing.  When  he  had  finished,  Stigler  said : 

"  Sounds  pretty,  all  right,  but  how  are  yer  goin'  to 
doit?" 

46 


A  Good  Plan  Blocked  47 

"  Couldn't  we  arrange,"  I  offered,  "  to  tell  each  other 
who  we  are  charging  goods  to,  and  so  prevent  ourselves 
from  running  up  unsafe  bills  ?  " 

"  How  d'yer  mean  ?  "  said  Stigler. 

"  Well,"  I  continued,  "  suppose  there's  a  carpenter 
who  has  a  bill  of  thirty  or  forty  dollars  coming  to  me 
which  is  overdue  —  why  I  tell  you  and  Mr.  Barlow  that 
he  owes  me  that  money,  and,  when  he  comes  to  you  for 
credit,  you  won't  do  business  with  him  until  he  has 
paid  me.  That  will  make  him  pay  me  and  save  you 
running  into  danger  with  him." 

I  saw  those  thin  lips  of  Stigler 's  turn  up  with  de- 
rision. 

"  And,"  I  continued  hastily,  "  if  anybody  owes  you 
anything,  you  let  us  know  and  we  won't  sell  to  him 
until  he  has  paid  you." 

"  Listens  very  pretty,  Black,"  Stigler  sneered,  "  but 
I  guess  when  you've  been  in  business  as  long  as  I  have, 
you  won't  talk  so  glib  about  lettin'  your  competitors 
know  just  what  you're  doin'  .  .  .  Hold  on,"  he  said, 
when  he  saw  Barlow  and  myself  about  to  protest.  "  I 
don't  mean  that  you  fellers  ain't  straight,  y'  under- 
stand, but  you  couldn't  prevent  that  information  leakin' 
out  to  yer  clerks,  and  what's  to  prevent  them  going 
to  my  customers  and  sellin'  to  them?  And,  besides, 
how  do  I  know  I'd  get  a  complete  list  of  yer  creditors, 
and  how  do  you  know  you'd  get  a  complete  list  of 
mine?  If  that's  your  story,  fellers,  I'm  goin'  home!  " 
and  he  rose  to  get  his  hat. 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  said  Barlow.  "  If  you  wish,  we 
can  hire  an  accountant,  and  pay  him  jointly,  and  have 
him  draw  off  those  figures,  and  we  can  refer  to  him 
when  we  want  to  know  anything  about  any  one." 


48        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

Stigler  lay  back  in  his  chair,  and  nodded  his  head 
toward  us  several  times  sarcastically. 

"  Of  course  Black,  here,"  he  said,  "  is  a  novice,  and 
I  don't  give  him  credit  for  knowin'  much;  but  you, 
Barlow,  I  thought  you  knew  better  than  to  put  up  a 
game  like  that  on  me.  Nothin'  doin',  I  tell  yer.  I 
wasn't  born  yesterday,  and  I  ain't  goin'  to  let  you  fel- 
lers get  the  inside  pull  of  my  business  if  I  know  it.  Y' 
understand,  I  ain't  got  nothin'  against  you  fellers,  but 
I  think  if  you  just  go  ahead  your  way,  and  I  go  mine, 
we'll  all  be  better  friends  in  the  end !  " 

I  could  see  Barlow  was  really  exasperated;  but  he 
controlled  his  temper  and  said : 

"  Very  well,  let  us  leave  that.  Would  you  be  willing 
to  join  us  in  a  circular  to  try  to  counteract  the  effect  of 
mail-order  competition?  " 

"  I'm  kinder  suspicious,  anyhow,"  replied  Stigler. 
"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,"  said  Barlow,  "  we  could,  perhaps,  have  a 
folder  printed,  quoting  our  prices  against  the  mail- 
order prices,  with  a  strong  suggestion  that  people 
should  buy  from  us  as  long  as  we  can  do  as  well  as 
anybody  else  for  them,." 

"  Yer  mean,"  said  Stigler,  "  to  just  send  that  out 
as  if  from  the  three  of  us?  " 

"  Exactly." 

Stigler  thought  for  a  minute,  and  then  said  slowly: 
"  And  have  everybody  in  town  think  that  we  fellers 
was  probably  workin'  together  to  boost  up  prices? 
No,  sir-ree,  I  think  that's  the  most  damfool  sugges- 
tion I've  ever  heard !  K-ha,"  he  snapped  out  his  laugh 
again.  "  Just  think  of  anybody  getting  hold  of  a  cir- 
cular with  three  competitors'  names  on  it!  Why, 


A  Good  Plan  Blocked  49 

they'd  naturally  think  at  once  that  competitors  don't 
work  together  unless  they're  gettin'  something  out  of 
it." 

"  We  are  getting  something  out  of  it,"  I  broke  in. 
"  We  are  going  to  get  the  mail-order  business  out  of 
it!" 

"  Yer  can't  make  me,  and  won't  make  the  public, 
believe  that.  They'll  believe  we're  just  puttin'  our 
heads  together  to  do  away  with  competition  so's  we 
can  get  fancy  prices." 

He  stood  up,  and  said,  with  a  little  boast  in  his 
manner : 

"  Stigler's  allus  been  known  for  bein'  a  keen,  cut- 
rate  hardware  man.  By  the  gods,  he's  goin'  to  stay  it. 
I'm  strong  enough  to  run  my  business  without  leanin' 
on  you  fellers,  and  I  ain't  goin'  to  let  the  public  think 
for  one  second  that  I  ain't." 

"  Then  good  night  to  you,  sir ! "  said  Barlow,  an- 
grily. I  was  mad  clear  through. 

Stigler  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  Yer  think  I'm 
easy,  don't  yer?  "  he  sneered,  and  went  out. 

When  he  had  gone,  Barlow  put  his  hand  on  my 
shoulder. 

"  Dawson,"  he  said,  "  Stigler  has  lived  in  this  town 
for  many  years,  trading  on  the  reputation  of  his  father, 
who  was  a  fine  gentleman.  But  he's  been  losing  the 
better-class  trade  rapidly,  and  is  only  holding  up  busi- 
ness by  cutting  prices  right  and  left.  That  policy  can't 
win  in  the  end." 

"  For  heaven's  sake !  Mr.  Barlow,"  I  cried,  "  why 
did  you  ask  him  here?  If  there  is  one  man  I  detest 
more  than  another,  it's  Stigler !  " 

"  Because,"  he  replied  gravely,  "  if  we  are  going  to 


50        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

exercise  cooperation,  it  must  be  complete,  and  per- 
sonalities must  be  sunk  for  the  greater  issues.  I  like 
Stigler  even  less  than  you  do,  but  that  mustn't  prevent 
us  giving  him  an  opportunity  to  work  with  us." 

"  Well,  he's  refused,  and  the  two  of  us  can  work 
together  on  these  plans,"  I  said. 

Then,  to  my  utter  amazement,  Barlow  shook  his 
head,  and  said :  "  We  can't  do  it,  Dawson." 

"  B-but,"  I  stammered,  "  in  the  train  you  said  you 
thought  it  was  a  good  idea!  " 

"  So  I  did,  and  I  still  think  so,  if  we  could  have 
Stigler  with  us.  But  don't  you  see,"  he  said,  "  that,  if 
we  were  to  come  out  with  an  advertisement  under  our 
joint  names,  Stigler  would  tell  every  one  in  the  town 
that  either  I  had  bought  you  out  —  remember  that  you 
worked  for  me  only  a  few  weeks  ago  —  or  else  that 
we  had  combined  to  drive  him  out  of  business.  And, 
as  soon  as  you  put  a  man  in  a  position  where  people 
think  he's  a  martyr,  they'll  flock  to  help  him.  It  seems 
to  be  a  peculiarity  of  human  nature  to  want  to  fight 
for  the  under  dog,  and  I  think  you've  seen  enough  of 
Stigler  to  know  that  he  would  use  that  weapon  to  the 
fullest  advantage." 

"  Well,  can't  we  work  together  on  the  credit 
scheme?  "  I  asked. 

"  No,"  he  replied,  "  for,  if  we  did  that  along  the 
line  suggested,  Stigler  would  tell  people  that  we  were 
telling  our  customers'  business  to  each  other,  and  you 
can  imagine  the  general  feeling  then.  Stigler  would 
urge  them  to  come  to  him,  and  tell  them  that  he 
would  keep  their  business  private,  and  such  things  as 
that." 
*  I  must  have  looked  dejected,  for  Barlow  laughed 


A  Good  Plan  Blocked  51 

sympathetically,  put  his  arm  around  my  shoulder,  and 
said: 

"  Now  I  know  you  had  your  heart  set  on  doing  this, 
Dawson,  but  it's  really  only  a  little  matter." 

"  Little  ?  "  I  said,  remembering  the  hullabaloo  at 
the  convention  when  mail-order  competition  was  men- 
tioned, as  well  as  the  question  of  credits. 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  for  we  can  help  each  other 
in  a  quiet  way  without  any  definite  plan.  Now,  if 
you've  any  credit  customers  about  whom  you  are  in 
doubt,  come  in  and  see  me  and  I'll  tell  you  what  I  can 
of  them." 

"  And  you'll  do  the  same,  sir?  " 

"  I  surely  will,"  said  he. 

And  we  shook  hands  and  that  was  how  it  ended. 

To  think  that  the  possibility  of  a  real  fight  against 
the  mail-order  houses,  and  the  certainty  of  checking 
credit  losses,  should  be  knocked  in  the  head  by  one 
man  who,  because  he  happened  to  be  a  crook  himself, 
thought  everybody  else  was! 


CHAPTER  X 

CURBING   CREDIT    CUSTOMERS 

i  THE  next  evening,  Jock  McTavish  and  I  had  a  long 
pow-wow  over  a  plan  to  check  credits.  It  is  always 
a  good  idea  to  talk  over  such  matters  with  an  account- 
ant, and  Jock  was  some  accountant,  in  spite  of  having 
come  from  "  Doom  freeze  "  as  he  called  it. 

In  the  morning  I  took  a  form  over  to  the  printers 
with  instructions  to  have  it  printed  on  4  x  6-in.  cards. 
I  had  an  old  cabinet  that  just  took  that  size  —  and  be- 
sides Jock  said  it  was  better  than  the  3  x  5-in.  size. 
He  said,  "  Most  card  indices,  run  on  a  3  x  5-in.  card, 
are  crowded.  The  card  is  really  too  small  except  for 
such  simple  uses  as  an  address  index.  The  result  is 
that  the  small  cards  soon  get  so  cluttered  up  with 
notes  and  additions  as  to  be  difficult  to  read.  Better 
use  the  4  x  6-in.  size,  and  give  yourself  room  to  write 
all  you  want  and  still  keep  it  in  order." 

Jock  glared  at  me  when  he  said  that,  for  he  consid- 
ered that  I  was  careless  in  my  bookkeeping  just  be- 
cause I  carried  charges  on  scraps  of  paper  till  evening 
and  then  entered  them  all  at  once. 

We  decided  that,  starting  on  the  first  of  the  next 
month,  we  would  make  every  customer  wanting  credit 
give  us  the  following  information,  and  sign  it. 

This  is  a  copy  of  the  form: 

52 


Curbing  Credit  Customers  53 


CHARGE  CUSTOMER  NUMBER 


Please  open  a  charge  account  with 

M     

Lives  at   Street. 

In  business  as 

At    Street. 

Works  for   

Class  of  goods  mostly  used  


Maximum  amount  of  credit  desired 

Will  pay  bill  on  

The  above  particulars  are  correct  and  agreeable  to  me. 
Date  Signed  


We  would  first  get  his  full  name  and  home  address. 
Then,  if  he  was  in  business  for  himself,  we  would 
know  that,  and  also  where  his  business  was.  If  he 
worked  for  some  one  else,  we'd  know  it  Then,  if  he 
was  a  plumber,  he  must  state  what  kind  of  goods  he 
would  most  need,  and  so  on.  This  was  my  idea. 
Jock  said  that  builders,  carpenters,  plumbers  and  such 
like  would  object  to  that  clause.  He  said  they  would 
think  it  was  no  business  of  mine  what  they  bought 
as  long  as  they  paid  for  it. 

I  believed,  however,  that  if  I  had  a  number  of  cus- 
tomers likely  to  use  a  lot  of  supplies  of  a  certain  kind, 
it  would  help  me  and  them  if  I  knew  it.  I  could  then 
buy  accordingly. 

Further,  if  I  found  a  man  buying  a  lot  of  goods 
quite  different  from  what  his  card  said  he  used,  I'd 
know  there  was  something  wrong  and  could  at  once 
look  into  it. 


54         Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

The  next  two  items  on  the  card  were,  of  course, 
the  crux  of  the  whole  thing.  We  wanted  to  pin  a 
man  down  to  a  definite  credit  limit,  both  as  regards 
time  and  amount. 

With  the  customer's  signature  to  that  card  I  could 
easily  stop  a  man's  credit  if  he  exceeded  his  limit  in 
either  way. 

Betty  thought  it  was  an  excellent  thing, —  if  I  could 
get  it  started;  and  Jock  said  it  was  a  good  plan, —  if 
it  worked.  I  showed  a  rough  draft  of  it  to  Barlow  at 
lunch  time,  and  he  sard  it  wouldn't  work.  So,  between 
the  lot  of  'em  I  got  mighty  little  encouragement. 

Still,  perhaps  it  was  best  to  act  on  my  own  judgment. 
If  I  was  wrong  I'd  know  better  next  time. 

Every  credit  customer  who  came  into  the  store  was 
to  be  passed  over  to  me,  and  I  was  going  to  tell  him 
a  little  story  like  this: 

"  Mr. ,  I've  only  recently  bought  this  business, 

and  I'm  not  yet  acquainted  with  all  my  customers  and 
their  needs.  Now  I  see  we  have  an  account  open  with 
you,  and  I'm  very  glad  to  accommodate  you.  It  will 
help  me  to  give  you  good  service  and  to  meet  your 
wishes  if  you  will  please  give  me  the  particulars  of 
your  needs." 

Then  I  was  going  to  ask  him  those  questions,  fill 
in  the  card  myself  as  he  answered  them  and,  passing 
it  over  to  him,  I'd  ask  him  if  it  was  all  correct.  If 
he  said  "  yes  "  I'd  pass  him  my  pen  without  a  word 
—  and  I  felt  sure  he  would  sign  it  without  a  murmur. 
At  least  that  was  my  guess. 

One  thing  was  certain,  I  simply  had  to  cut  down 
my  credit  business.  I  was  hard  up,  and  owed  more 
than  I  had  in  the  bank.  Of  course  the  accounts  were 


Curbing  Credit  Customers  55 

good,  but  I  could  not  pay  my  bills  with  somebody 
else's  unpaid  account.  The  previous  week's  business 
had  been  $428.00,  and  $204.00  of  it  had  been  charged ! 

I  had  a  crowd  of  small  accounts,  people  who  had 
bought  and  promised  to  come  in  "  at  the  end  of  the 
week,1'  or  who  had  asked  to  have  the  goods  delivered 
and  promised  to  pay  the  boy  —  and  when  the  boy 
delivered,  they  had  said,  "  Tell  Mr.  Black  I'll  be  in  to- 
morrow and  pay  him.  I  haven't  the  change  now." 

When,  oh !  when  was  "  to-morrow  "  ?  Unless  I  got 
some  ready  cash  soon  I'd  have  to  ask  some  of  my 
creditors  to  wait  until  "  to-morrow." 

The  next  day,  while  I  was  out  for  lunch,  old  Peter 
Bender,  the  carpenter,  came  in  for  some  more  goods. 
He  had  bought  $18.75  worth  early  in  the  month;  a 
little  later  he  had  bought  $11.00  worth,  and,  while  I 
was  at  the  convention,  he  had  got  another  $8.50  wort;h 
of  goods. 

J  had  blamed  Larsen  for  that  last  lot  of  $8.50, 
for  I  had  said  that  Peter  was  to  pay  up  before  getting 
more  goods.  However,  it  had  got  by  Larsen  and  I 
had  said  nothing.  Peter  had  come  in  as  soon  as  I 
had  left  the  store,  and  told  Walter,  the  first  assistant, 
that  he  was  to  tell  me  that  my  bill  would  be  paid  "  to- 
morrow." He  had  then  said  there  were  "  a  few  odds 
and  ends "  he  wanted  —  and  took  $26.00  worth  of 
tools  with  him.  That  brought  the  total  to  $64.25. 

I  was  really  uneasy  about  it  —  I  was  more  —  I  was 
worried,  for  Barlow  had  told  me  that  he  would  not 
sell  him  anything  until  he  had  paid  a  bill  of  $2.65, 
while  I  had  gone  to  $64.25 ! 

Peter  had  "  stuck  "  Simpson  too,  I  remembered,  for 
Peter  had  told  me  when  he  bought  the  first  lot  of 


56         Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

goods  that  Jim  Simpson  had  accepted  $10.30  in  full 
settlement  of  over  $60.00! 

Betty  was  quite  "  snippy  "  that  evening.  She  said 
she  was  worrying  over  the  way  I  managed  the  busi- 
ness. I  fancied  she  had  started  to  say  "  mis- 
managed "  it.  We  almost  "  got  to  words."  How- 
ever, I  told  her  that  Fellows  of  the  Flaxon  Advertis- 
ing Agency  was  writing  a  form  letter  for  me  to  send 
to  the  people  who  owed  me  small  accounts.  There 
was  over  $300.00  worth  of  such  accounts,  none  over 
$5.00. 

Fellows,  however,  telephoned  me  that  he  could  not 
get  over  till  late  the  following  afternoon  with  the  col- 
lection letter,  so  I  decided  to  write  it  myself. 

When  he  arrived  I  showed  it  to  him.  I  set  it  down 
here  as  a  horrible  example  of  how  not  to  do  it.  This 
is  it: 


Dear  Sir:  — 

1  notice  that  your  account  of for  goods 

purchased  some  time  ago  has  not  yet  been  paid. 

From  this  date  on,  no  more  credit  will  be  allowed  any 
one  owing  overdue  accounts ;  furthermore,  definite  par- 
ticulars of  credit  requirements  must  be  supplied  in  advance. 

As  I  am  anxious  to  close  up  these  overdue  accounts  at 
once,  I  must  ask  for  your  remittance  in  full  by  return  mail. 
Yours  truly, 


When  Fellows  read  that  he  laughed  and  said :  "  I 
don't  think  that  hits  the  mark  at  all.  If  any  one 
were  to  pay  you  on  the  strength  of  that  letter,  it  would 
be  with  the  determination  never  to  do  any  more  busi- 


Curbing  Credit  Customers  57 

ness  with  you.  You  want  to  coax  the  money  out  of 
'em.  You  want  to  try  to  put  it  in  such  a  way  that 
they  will  pay  you  and  feel  glad  about  it.  Do  you 
think  any  one  would  feel  pleased  at  such  an  abrupt 
demand  for  payment  ?  Now  I  spent  all  last  night  and 
all  the  morning  trying  to — " 

Here  I  broke  in  with  "  Does  it  take  all  that  time  to 
write  a  single  dunning  letter?" 

"  For  one  letter,  no ;  but  for  a  form  letter  that  is 
going  to  sixty  or  seventy  people,  yes.  It  is  really  im- 
portant that  it  will  not  offend  any  one  and  yet  '  bring 
home  the  bacon.'  Here  it  is,"  and  he  passed  me  this : 


Dear  Mr :  — 

The  enclosed  account  is  so  small  that  I  feel  sure  you 
will  not  object  to  paying  it  when  next  passing  the  store. 

May   I   respectfully  add  that  it  materially  aids  me  to 
get  these  small  accounts  paid  promptly  and  out  of  the  way. 

Will  you  do  your  share  toward  helping  me  —  to-day? 
Very  truly  yours, 


P.  S.    Have  a  look  at  my  new  line  of  "  hot  weather 
electrics  " —  fans,  grills,  toasters,  etc. —  at  the  same  time. 


I  took  it  over  to  a  young  stenographer  who  promised 
to  typewrite  them  for  me  as  quickly  as  possible.  I 
thought  it  was  worth  the  little  extra  cost  to  send  these 
people  real  individual  letters,  each  one  signed  by  my- 
self. 

Fellows  offered  to  send  me  three  more  letters  on 
collections.  He  advised  me  to  put  in  a  regular  "  fol- 
low-up "  system. 

I  was  a  little  dubious,  and  told  him  so,  of  the  wisdom 


58         Dawson  Slack:  Retail  Merchant 

of  such  a  system  in  a  small  town.  "  It's  all  right  for 
San  Francisco,  or  Chicago,  or  New  York,"  I  said. 
"  But  here,  where  I  know  so  many  people,  won't  they 
think  I'm  putting  on  side  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  for  you  send  a  letter  that  is  not 
a  formal  one  by  any  means.  Follow-up  systems  can 
be  just  as  successful  in  a  small  town  as  in  big  cities, 
if  you  will  see  that  the  letter  expresses  your  own  per- 
sonality. A  high-falutin',  high-brow  letter  would  be 
a  joke,  but  a  human  letter,  written  in  the  language  you 
use,  and  that  your  customers  are  used  to,  will  win  out 
every  time." 


CHAPTER  XI 

MORE   FINANCIAL   WORRIES 

WHEN  I  totaled  my  sales  for  the  month,  I  was  some- 
what gratified  to  find  that  they  were  $2,280.00.  The 
best  month  the  store  had  had  for  a  long  time,  I 
fancied. 

The  only  fly  I  could  see  in  the  ointment  was  that 
over  $600.00  worth  of  goods  were  charged  during  the 
month.  I  had  considerably  over  a  thousand  dollars 
on  the  books,  and  it  seemed  to  me  a  lot  to  have  in 
two  months.  However,  the  plan  which  I  put  into 
force  the  first  of  the  month  had  certainly  cut  down 
charge  accounts. 

Most  fellows  had  fallen  in  line  with  the  new  plan 
of  controlling  credits,  and  I  felt  sure  it  would  work 
out  splendidly,  although  one  old  chap,  Mr.  Dawborn, 
had  felt  insulted  (he  owed  me  $18.75  —  an(l  **&  owes 
it,  by  the  way)  and  said  he  refused  to  be  card-indexed 
and  checked  up  like  a  criminal  being  put  through  the 
third  degree.  He  worked  himself  into  a  fine  fit  of 
fury,  and  bounced  out  of  the  store,  saying  that  he 
would  give  Stigler  all  his  trade  in  future. 

I  was  so  "  rattled  "  that  I  forgot  to  ask  him  to  pay 
his  account  before  doing  so! 

The  incident  reminded  me  of  something  that  Larsen 
had  told  me  about  Stigler,  He  said  that  Stigler  was 
talking  about  me  and  saying  that  I  was  a  "  smarty  " 

59 


60        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

and  that  it  was  about  time  somebody  "  slapped  my 
wrist."  Stigler  claimed  that  he  would  run  me  off  my 
feet  by  Christmas. 

I  remember  wishing  his  store  was  not  so  near.  I 
could  see  it  from  the  front  of  mine.  I  had  noticed 
that,  whenever  he  and  I  happened  to  meet  he  would 
say,  "  Howdy  "  in  such  a  contemptuous  manner  that 
I  felt  like  -knocking  his  block  off !  Excuse  my  free 
and  easy  language,  but  I  sure  did  hate  that  man! 

I  have  interrupted  my  story  just  when  I  was  re- 
cording the  standing  of  my  business  at  the  first  of 
the  third  month  as  nearly  as  I  could  estimate  it. 

Cash  in  bank,  $1,920.00. 

Accounts  owing  to  me,  $1,265.00. 

Purchases  for  previous  month,  $4,220.00. 

Bills  I  owed,  $3,820.00. 

I  decided  I  must  get  hold  of  Jock  McTavish,  for 
there  was  something  wrong  in  it  all.  I  had  had  to 
get  that  stock,  but  I  did  not  have  enough  in  cash  and 
accounts  owing  to  me  to  pay  all  my  trade  bills. 

However,  I  had  until  the  loth,  and  if  I  had  a  good 
week  I  would  be  pretty  nearly  all  right;  still  I  did 
feel  a  bit  uncomfortable  about  owing  so  much  more 
than  I  could  pay  right  away,  even  though  I  had  got 
a  fine  new  stock  of  gardening  tools,  and  a  new  line  of 
carpenter  and  household  tools,  besides  a  new  line  in 
aluminum  ware. 

I  understood  that  Stigler  was  mad  because  I  had 
opened  up  in  the  carpenter  tool  line  so  much  more 
than  my  predecessor  had. 

Jock  had  told  me  that  I  ought  to  reduce  my  stock 
and  increase  my  sales.  I  had  increased  my  sales, 
but  increased  my  stock  also.  Still,  I  had  saved  quite 


More  Financial  Worries  61 

a  lot  in  price  by  buying  in  large  quantities,  and,  if 
the  worst  came  to  the  worst,  I  could  pay  everybody 
but  the  Boston  jobbers. 

Bates  &  Hotchkin,  to  whom  I  owed  nearly 
$2,000.00,  had  been  very  decent  to  me.  They  had 
sent  their  man  to  help  me  take  stock  and  never  charged 
me  a  cent.  I  had  given  them  the  bulk  of  my  general 
business,  and  they  had  looked  after  me  in  great  shape. 
I  felt  that  they  would  give  me  an  extra  thirty-days 
credit  if  I  asked  for  it,  and  I  certainly  would  sooner 
ask  them  than  any  one  else. 

I  studied  the  figures  that  evening  until  Betty  came 
in  and  put  her  dear  hands  on  my  forehead  and  said, 
"  How  hot  your  head  is,  boy  dear  —  are  you  worry- 
ing over  anything  in  particular?  "  "  No,"  I  said  with 
a  smile.  "  Well,"  she  replied,  "  it  is  12:30  and  quite 
time  you  were  getting  some  beauty  sleep." 

I  said  I  was  not  worried,  but  I  didn't  like  the  size 
of  my  liabilities.  I  began  to  think  I  had  been  a  fool 
in  buying  so  heavily. 

The  next  morning  I  had  a  bit  of  excitement,  with 
the  result  that  I  paid  Myricks  his  money  and  let  him 

g°- 

I  had  decided  to  adhere  to  the  division  of  expenses 
that  Jock  had  worked  out,  and  that  meant  reducing 
the  force.  Accordingly,  I  had  told  Myricks  that  he 
could  stay  a  few  weeks  until  he  got  another  job,  and 
I  meant  it,  but  that  morning,  when  I  caught  him  in 
the  basement  tossing  lamp  chimneys  into  the  fixtures 
so  carelessly  that  a  number  of  them  were  broken,  I 
got  mad  and  told  him  he  was  an  ungrateful  scamp, 
and  that  I  thought  he  was  deliberately  destroying  my 
property.  He  turned  around  and  said  I  had  no  cause 


62        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

to  say  he  was  a  crook,  and  that,  even  if  I  was  his  boss, 
he  had  friends  who  would  help  him  to  protect  his 
reputation ! 

Then  I  saw  red,  and  plugged  him  under  the  jaw! 
Next  I  called  him  upstairs,  gave  him  a  week's  money, 
and  let  him  go. 

His  parting  remark  was,  "  Everybody's  getting  wise 
to  you;  I'm  glad  to  be  through  before  the  smash 
comes.  Mr.  Stigler  told  me  what  would  happen  and 
I  can  get  a  job  there  now  —  and  I'm  going  to  him 
right  away !  " 

It  didn't  scare  me  any  —  it  merely  aroused  my 
fighting  blood.  There  was  one  good  lesson  I  learned 
that  day,  though,  and  that  was,  "  Never  to  talk  to  an 
employee  while  in  a  temper."  I  felt  that  I  had  low- 
ered my  dignity  by  so  doing;  and,  even  though  I  had 
done  him  no  harm,  I  certainly  had  not  done  myself 
any  good. 

I  didn't  like  what  he  had  said  about  Stigler,  but 
if  he  thought  it  worried  me  he  was  mistaken. 
If  Stigler  was  spoiling  for  a  fight  I'd  give  him 
one!  .  .  . 

I  had  begun  to  think  that  Larsen  was  a  pretty 
shrewd  fellow;  certainly  when  he  did  thaw  enough 
to  make  a  criticism  it  was  generally  worth  listening 
to. 

One  day,  Jerry  Teller,  a  rather  fussy  carpenter  who 
did  excellent  work,  and  who  was  always  wanted  when 
any  extra  fine  work  was  desired,  came  in  with  a  com- 
plaint that  a  back  saw  he  had  bought  a  week  or  so 
before  was  not  perfect.  I  looked  it  over  carefully, 
but  couldn't  see  a  thing  the  matter  with  it  until  Jerry 
pointed  out  a  crack  in  the  handle  from  the  rivet  to 


More  Financial  Worries  63 

the  back.  It  was  such  a  trifling  thing  that  I  did  not 
feel  inclined  to  change  it,  besides,  as  I  told  him,  how 
did  I  know  it  hadn't  cracked  since  he  had  had  it? 
He  swore  up  and  down  that  it  was  like  that  when  he 
bought  it,  for  he  was  too  careful  of  his  tools  to 
damage  them.  He  demanded  a  new  saw  or  his  money 
back. 

I  told  him  the  saw  had  become  second-hand  goods 
now  and  that  I  didn't  deal  in  second-hand  goods. 
We  had  a  lot  of  talk  back  and  forth,  but  I  was  doing 
some  tall  thinking  and  finally  decided  that  it  was 
better  to  give  him  a  new  saw  than  to  let  him  feel  dis- 
satisfied, so,  somewhat  against  my  will,  I  finally  gave 
him  a  new  saw.  But  it  didn't  seem  to  please  him, 
for  he  left  the  store  still  grumbling  about  the  way 
I  tried  to  "  put  it  over  him." 

Larsen  had  been  watching  the  whole  incident,  so, 
after  Jerry  left  the  store  I  turned  to  Larsen  and  said, 
*'  There's  no  satisfying  some  people,  Larsen." 

"You  no  try  to  satisfy  him  much,  eh,  boss?"  he 
replied. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  I. 

"  Say  I  come  to  the  store.  You  kicked  up  a  fuss. 
Then  you  change  the  saw.  I  don't  feel  pleased.  Yet 
you  give  me  a  new  saw,"  he  answered. 

And  then  I  saw  the  light !  Great  guns,  what  a  fool 
I  was!  I  didn't  seem  to  know  the  first  thing  about 
business.  Ever  since  I  got  the  store  my  life  seemed 
to  have  been  a  series  of  doing  things  wrong.  And  it 
took  Larsen  to  show  me  a  mistake ! 

I  turned  to  him  and  said,  "  Thank  you,  Larsen ; 
you  are  right;  I  appreciate  your  frankness."  Then  I 
held  out  my  hand  to  him,  which  he  shook  awkwardly, 


64        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

and  said,  "  That's  all  right,  boss ;  I  am  still  learning ; 
you  are  still  learning  —  thank  you." 

I  was  beginning  to  like  Larsen! 

One  thing  I  then  and  there  resolved  to  do  was  this : 
If  any  one  came  in  with  a  complaint  of  any  kind,  I 
was  going  to  let  him  have  his  say  and  get  it  off  his 
chest.  Then,  instead  of  arguing  with  him  as  to  what 
I  should  do,  I  would  turn  around  and  say :  "  I  am 
very  sorry  you  are  not  quite  satisfied  with  that  article, 
for  I  can't  afford  to  have  any  one  leave  this  store 
feeling  dissatisfied.  Now,  if  you  will  tell  me  just 
what  you  want  me  to  do  to  satisfy  you,  I'll  do  it." 
Then,  whatever  he  said,  even  if  it  meant  a  direct  loss 
to  me,  I'd  do  what  he  wanted  with  a  smile.  I'd  not 
appear  suspicious  of  him,  but  treat  him  in  such  a  way 
that  he'd  feel  pleased. 


CHAPTER  XII 

AN   UNEXPECTED   VISITOR 

MY  sales  for  the  next  two  weeks  fell  to  an  average 
of  $328.00  —  but,  thank  goodness,  less  than  $50.00  of 
the  whole  were  charge  accounts! 

The  plan  of  making  people  state  how  much  credit 
they  wanted  seemed  to  be  working  out  well.  The 
deadbeats  flew  up  in  the  air  and  said  they  wouldn't 
do  business  with  any  one  that  wanted  their  pedigree 
before  allowing  them  to  buy  goods,  but  the  worth- 
while ones  saw  the  reasonableness  of  the  request  and 
fell  in  line  with  it. 

I  believed  that,  while  my  sales  were  down  25  per 
cent.,  I  would  be  better  off  in  the  end,  for  what  I 
had  left  I  believed  was  real  business.  That  is,  I  would 
be  better  off  if  I  could  only  stick  it  out. 

Soon  after  the  first  of  the  month  I  paid  off  all 
my  creditors  except  Bates  &  Hotchkin,  the  Boston 
jobbing  house  with  which  I  did  the  bulk  of  my  busi- 
ness. I  wrote  them  a  letter  saying  that  I  had  over- 
bought, and  told  them  that,  as  they  were  the  largest 
creditor,  I  had  paid  the  others  and  would  send  them 
a  check  as  soon  as  I  could.  They  had  always  been  so 
decent  I  didn't  expect  any  trouble  at  all,  and  what 
was  my  surprise  the  next  day  to  have  a  Mr.  Peck  call 
on  me  and  tell  me  that  he  was  the  credit  man  for 
Bates  &  Hotchkin ! 

65 


66        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Glad  to  see  you,"  I  said,  although  mentally  I  was 
not  at  all  glad  to  see  him.  I  had  a  feeling  as  if  dicky 
birds  were  walking  up  and  down  my  spine.  "  What 
can  I  do  for  you?  " 

For  reply  he  handed  me  a  statement  of  their  ac- 
count, the  amount  of  which  was  $1,079.00. 

"  Oh,"  said  I,  "  I  wrote  you  about  this  yesterday." 

"  I  know,"  said  Peck  calmly.  "  I'm  the  answer  to 
your  letter.  I  have  come  for  a  check." 

"  But  I  told  you,"  I  replied,  rather  irritably,  "  that 
I  couldn't  give  it  to  you  just  now,  and  that  you  would 
have  to  wait  a  little !  " 

"  Mr.  Black,"  he  returned,  "  will  you  tell  me  if  there 
is  any  reason  why  we  should  wait  for  our  money 
when  you  pay  every  one  else?"  His  voice  retained 
its  even  tone. 

"  Yes,  I  will,"  I  replied,  getting  hot,  "  because  you 
are  getting  the  bulk  of  my  business,  and,  as  I  am  doing 
as  much  as  I  can  for  you,  you  have  got  to  do  as  much 
as  you  can  for  me !  " 

"  Suppose  I  should  tell  you,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said, 
"  that  we  gave  you  credit,  in  the  first  place,  merely 
because  Mr.  Barlow  spoke  so  well  of  you.  We  cer- 
tainly didn't  give  it  to  you  on  the  reputation  of  the 
store  you  bought." 

I  winced  at  this. 

"  Remember,"  he  continued,  "  that  Simpson  de- 
ceived us  the  same  as  he  did  everybody  else,  so  that  the 
business,  as  such,  doesn't  justify  any  credit,  does  it?  " 

I  turned  around  sharply,  and  said: 

"  I  am  not  asking  you  to  give  credit  to  the  business. 
I  am  asking  you  to  give  credit  to  me,  and  — 

"  And  all  you  can  show  us,  by  way  of  credit  rating, 


An  Unexpected  Visitor  67 

is  the   fact  that  your  old  employer  speaks  well  of 
you!" 

"  Well,"  I  returned,  thoroughly  vexed,  "  the  long 
and  short  of  it  is  that  I  can't  pay  you  just  now,  and 
you  have  just  got  to  wait  for  your  money!  But  let 
me  tell  you  this  —  it's  the  last  red  penny  of  my  money 
you'll  ever  get !  " 

Still  Mr.  Peck  replied  with  his  calm  demeanor: 

"  Under  those  circumstances,  Mr.  Black,  can  you 
give  me  any  reason  why  we  should  wait  for  our 
money?  If  you  were  in  my  place,  wouldn't  you  be 
inclined  to  force  collection  ? " 

Before  I  could  reply,  he  continued: 

"  I  have  come  down  here,  Mr.  Black,  to  try  to  help 
you,  and  perhaps  I  can,  but  you  have  got  to  realize 
first  of  all  that  you  haven't  treated  us  fairly." 

I  was  about  to  protest  against  this,  when  he  put  up 
his  hand  and  said : 

"  Wait  a  minute,  Mr.  Black.  You  can't  see  it  in 
your  present  frame  of  mind,  and  you  probably  think 
we  are  very  hard  to  come  down  on  you  like  this,  when 
you  have  been  in  business  only  such  a  short  time. 
That  is  the  reason  we  take  this  stand.  Had  you  been 
in  business  for  some  years  we  should  have  known  you 
inside  and  out,  and  would  have  known  just  what  to 
do.  Now,  if  your  credit  is  really  good  in  the  town, 
and  you  have  anything  back  of  you,  you  can  borrow 
the  money  and  give  me  my  check  before  I  leave 
town." 

"  Great  guns,  man,"  I  cried,  "  to  whom  do  you  think 
I  can  go  to  borrow  that  amount !  " 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  haven't  you  got  a  bank  account 
here?" 


68        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  but  they  won't  lend  me  any 
money!  " 

Mr.  Peck's  face  seemed  suddenly  to  harden,  and, 
putting  his  fingers  on  the  desk,  he  said: 

"  Mr.  Black,  we  are  simply  wasting  time.  What  do 
you  think  a  bank's  for?  A  bank  isn't  a  mere  safe 
deposit  for  money!  It's  a  bank's  business  to  lend 
money!  Better  go  and  see  your  bank  now.  I'll  be 
back  in  two  hours !  " 

Without  another  word  he  turned  and  left  the  store. 

At  that  I  completely  lost  my  temper. 

"  I'll  be  damned  if  I  will!  "  I  cried  to  Larsen,  who 
was  standing  by.  "  Those  people  can  wait  for  their 
money,  and  you  can  just  bet  that  I'm  through  doing 
business  with  them!  They're  not  the  only  jobbers 
in  the  world.  Dirty,  low-down  trick,  I  call  it !  " 

I  was  much  surprised  when  Larsen  replied: 

"  You  paid  all  other  fellers,  yes  ?  You  not  pay 
him.  You  get  mad  with  your  debtors  when  they  don't 
pay  you  ?  Doesn't  the  same  sauce  suit  all  birds  ?  " 
(Larsen  got  his  maxim  a  bit  twisted,  but  I  knew  what 
he  meant,  all  right.)  "  If  I  might  suggest,  I  would 
go  down  to  bank  and  talk  with  them.  You  won't  be 
worse  off,  perhaps  better." 

The  more  I  saw  of  Larsen  the  more  respect  I  had 
for  his  judgment,  and  I  believed  I  had  done  quite 
right  when  at  the  beginning  of  the  month  I  had  frankly 
talked  over  my  position  with  him.  We  had  planned 
to  talk  over  a  scheme  of  profit-sharing  with  the  help, 
but  there  had  been  so  many  things  happening  that  we 
had  had  to  defer  it  for  a  time. 

Well,  I  went  and  had  a  talk  with  Blickens,  the 
president  of  the  bank.  He  shook  hands  very  cordially 


An  Unexpected  Visitor  69 

with  me,  but,  when  I  told  him  what  my  errand  was, 
the  jovial  manner  seemed  to  fall  away  from  him,  and 
he  became  reserved  and  grave.  Mighty  suspicious,  I 
thought. 

"  It's  no  disgrace  to  want  to  borrow  money,  Mr. 
Black,"  said  he,  "if^you  have  your  business  in  such 
shape  that  it  will  justify  a  loan." 

I  thought  I  read  the  suspicion  in  his  voice  that  I  was 
running  the  business  to  the  wall.  However,  1  told 
him  fully  just  how  things  stood,  showed  my  sales  slips, 
amount  of  stock  on  hand,  amounts  owing,  and  all 
that,  which  I  had  brought  with  me  at  Larsen's  sugges- 
tion. He  looked  over  the  figures  very  carefully. 
Then  he  said: 

"How  much  do  you  want?" 

"  Fifteen  hundred  dollars,"  I  replied,  rather 
timidly. 

"  You  owe  those  jobbers  only  $1,079.00  that  is 
actually  overdue,"  he  replied,  "  and  that's  really  the 
only  pressing  debt  you  have.  Let's  see  —  you  have 
now  $328.00  balance  to  your  credit  in  the  bank.  A 
thousand  dollars  is  all  you  need.  Now,  I'll  let  you 
have  that  much.  You  can  then  pay  off  those  jobbers, 
and  still  have  a  balance  of  about  $250.00  on  your  ac- 
count. You  should  not  let  it  get  below  that  figure. 
Your  stock  is  far  too  heavy  for  your  turn-over,  and  I 
think  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  find  some  way  of 
turning  your  surplus  stock  into  cash,  and  you  must  ab- 
solutely cease  giving  wild  credit." 

"  I've  done  that  already,"  I  said,  and  told  him  in 
detail  what  I  had  done. 

"  That's  excellent,"  he  replied,  "  and  I'm  glad  to 
know  that  you  have  put  that  into  force.  You  must, 


70        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

however,  reduce  your  stock.  Much  better  for  you  to 
lose  a  little  business  for  the  next  few  months,  and  get 
yourself  on  a  sound  financial  basis,  than  to  be  skating, 
as  you  are,  on  thin  ice." 

He  looked  over  my  list  of  accounts  that  were  owing 
to  me,  and,  putting  a  mark  against  a  number  of  them, 
he  said: 

"  Those  people  are  tricksters.  You'll  only  waste 
your  time  trying  to  get  anything  from  them." 

Great  Scott!  And  I  had  thought,  when  I  was 
working  for  Barlow,  that  I  could  run  his  business 
as  well  as  he  could!  Mr.  Barlow,  I  then  and  there 
went  on  record  as  saying  that  you  were  a  bigger  man 
than  I  was,  and  that  I  took  my  hat  off  to  you!  I 
wonder  if  all  employees  have  the  same  all-fired  con- 
ceit in  regard  to  their  abilities  that  I  had  had?  If 
they  have,  I  advise  them  to  try  running  a  store  for 
a  little  while!  It  isn't  enough  just  to  be  a  business 
man  —  you  have  got  to  be  an  expert  on  mechanics, 
a  diplomat,  a  financier,  a  master  salesman,  an  account- 
ant, a  lawyer,  an  advertising  man  —  whew !  if  I  had 
known  of  the  difficulties  of  running  a  store  I  think 
I  would  have  hesitated  a  long  while  before  assuming 
the  burden! 

Well,  the  loan  was  fixed  up  and  I  went  back  to  the 
store,  and  in  a  little  while  Mr.  Peck  came  back.  I 
gave  him  his  check,  saying  rather  coldly : 

"  That  cleans  the  account  up  to  date,  Mr.  Peck." 

"  Yes,"  he  responded.  "  And  now  your  credit  is 
as  good  with  us  as  it  was  before." 

I  still  looked  unresponsive,  and  then  he  took  me 
by  the  arm,  and  brought  me  to  the  rear  of  the  store. 

"  Listen,  young  man,"  he  said  —  his  manner  was 


An  Unexpected  Visitor  71 

very  kindly.  "If  you  ever  really  need  money,  you 
will  find  we  will  be  quite  willing  to  help  you  in  reason ; 
but  you  really  didn't  need  it  this  time,  you  know,  and 
I  wanted  to  give  you  a  lesson  in  thrift  and  financing, 
and  to  impress  it  seriously  on  your  mind. 

"  Always  make  a  point  of  discounting  your  bills, 
even  if  you  have  to  borrow  money  from  the  bank  to 
do  it.  Let  me  illustrate  what  this  will  save  you. 
Suppose  that  you  can  take  a  two  per  cent,  discount 
by  paying  a  bill  in  ten  days.  Now  suppose  you  allow 
the  bill  to  run  to  thirty  days.  You  lose  that  two  per 
cent,  for  an  accommodation  of  twenty  days.  That  is 
at  the  rate  of  thirty-six  per  cent,  a  year.  You  can  bor- 
row money  from  the  bank  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  a 
year,  and  make  so  much  clear  saving.  You  can  figure 
it  out  this  way,  if  you  like.  Your  purchases  are,  let 
us  suppose,  about  $12,000.00  a  year,  or  $1,000.00  a 
month.  I  know  they  are  more  than  that,  but  those 
figures  will  serve  to  illustrate  my  point.  On  your 
monthly  purchase  of  $1,000.00  you  lose  two  per  cent., 
or  $20.00,  by  taking  a  full  month  instead  of  paying 
it  in  ten  days.  If  you  borrow  that  $1,000.00  from  the 
bank  for  the  twenty  days  necessary  it  costs  you  only 
$3-33»  so  that  you  make  $16.67  a  month,  which 
amounts  to  " —  he  figured  it  out  — "  to  $200.00  a 
year!" 

That  was  surely  a  new  light  on  finance  to  me ! 

"  Now,"  he  went  on,  "  it  seems  to  me  that  your 
business  should  be  put  in  such  shape  that  you  can 
take  your  discounts  without  even  the  necessity  of  bor- 
rowing, and  you  can  save  the  interest.  Here  you  are 
with  sales  of  about  $25,000.00  a  year  and  a  stock 
costing  you  around  $8,000.00  or  $9,000.00.  Deduct- 


72        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

ing  the  gross  profit  from  your  sales,  which  amounts 
to  about  thirty-three  and  one-third  per  cent.,  it  leaves 
$16,667.00,  which  means  that  you  are  turning  over 
your  stock  only  about  twice  a  year.  You  should  work 
this  up  to  three  and  one-half  times  a  year." 

This  question  of  turn-over  seemed  to  me  to  be  a 
most  important  one,  judging  from  the  way  every  one 
I  talked  with  hammered  on  it.  I  realized  then  that 
Mr.  Peck  had  done  me  a  good  turn,  and  I  felt  grate- 
ful. 

"  Do  you  think  it  is  possible,  Mr.  Peck,"  I  said, 
"for  me  to  turn  my  stock  over  three  and  one-half 
times  a  year?" 

"  Why,  yes,"  he  said.  "  I  know  many  hardware 
stores  that  turn  their  stock  over  more  times  than  that. 
Reduce  your  stock,  eliminate  the  slow-selling  lines, 
buy  carefully  for  the  next  few  months,  and  you  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  taking  your  discounts.  Besides 
the  saving  you  will  make,  you  will  be  building  up  a 
reputation  as  a  trustworthy  man  —  and  that's  a  decid- 
edly helpful  thing  for  a  retail  merchant." 

As  he  turned  to  leave  I  held  out  my  hand  and  said, 
with  the  best  grace  I  could: 

"  I  reckon  I  made  a  bit  of  a  fool  of  myself,  Mr. 
Peck.  I  want  to  thank  you  for  your  help  to  me." 

His  handclasp  as  he  said  good-by  was  a  good, 
hearty  one,  and  I  felt  I  had  a  real  friend  in  that  credit 
manager. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A   NEW   KIND   OF   LOTTERY 

I  HAD  thought  out  a  novel  way  to  fight  the  mail- 
order competition.  It  had  come  to  me  from  an  article 
I  had  read  in  a  magazine  about  how  a  druggist  in  a 
small  town  in  the  Middle  West  had  practically 
eliminated  mail-order  competition  —  at  least  tem- 
porarily —  in  his  town.  I  decided  immediately  to  try 
it.  Betty  says  I  am  always  too  impetuous.  When  I 
reviewed  what  happened,  I  was  uncertain  whether  I 
had  done  myself  good  or  harm;  but  one  thing  was 
certain  —  I  surely  did  get  a  lot  of  publicity! 

After  I  had  read  that  article  in  the  magazine,  I 
said  to  myself:  "  Now,  that's  reasonable.  If  people 
haven't  got  a  mail-order  catalog,  they  won't  buy  from 
the  mail-order  house.  Why  didn't  I  think  of  that  be- 
fore? If  I  get  this  mail-order  catalog,  I  take  away 
from  them  the  thing  that  makes  it  easy  for  them  to 
buy." 

In  the  lower  corner  of  the  ad  I  had  a  picture  and 
description  of  the  talking  machine,  set  off  by  a  border. 

Then  I  had  two  men  march  about  the  town  with 
boards  across  their  shoulders,  on  which  were  painted, 

"  DAWSON  BLACK'S  MAIL-ORDER  CATALOG  CONTEST. 
TAKE  A  CHANCE !  SEE  THE  NEWSPAPERS  !  " 

This  is  the  ad  I  put  in  both  our  papers: 

73 


74        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 


HAVE  YOU  A  SPORTING  INSTINCT? 

If  so,  take  a  few  chances  on  winning  a  phonograph. 
These  chances  are  free. 

Bring  your  mail-order  catalogs  to  us.  In  return  for 
each  catalog  you  will  receive  a  numbered  coupon. 

A  drawing  will  take  place  in  our  window  next  Monday 
at  7:30  p.  m.,  when  one  of  the  coupons  will  be  drawn 
by  a  blindfolded  person  from  a  tub  in  which  all  the 
coupons  will  be  placed. 

The  number  of  the  coupon  drawn  will  be  the  winning 
number,  and  the  holder  of  it  will  receive  the  talking 
machine  absolutely  free. 

The  machine  may  be  seen  in  our  window,  or  at  the 
Farmdale  Furniture  Store. 


I  had  only  a  few  days  between  the  announcement 
of  the  contest  and  the  time  for  the  drawing,  because 
I  thought,  if  the  time  were  longer,  people  would  write 
to  the  mail-order  houses  for  catalogs  so  as  to  enter 
them  in  the  contest. 

I  didn't  know  just  what  the  effect  would  be,  but 
I  did  know  there  was  a  lot  of  money  going  out  of 
the  town  to  the  mail-order  houses. 

The  avalanche  started  the  next  morning.  Before 
we  opened  the  store  there  was  a  line  of  youngsters 
outside,  each  carrying  from  one  to  six  catalogs. 
Great  big  fellows,  they  were,  many  of  them. 

As  they  came  into  the  store,  we  passed  out  coupons, 
each  one  numbered  separately.  A  boy  bringing  in  two 
catalogs  got  two  coupons,  and  so  on.  All  the  week 
we  had  catalogs  rolling  in.  Some  of  them  were  ten 
years  old.  I  didn't  know  there  were  so  many  mail- 


A  New  Kind  of  Lottery  75 

order  houses.  By  the  looks  of  many  of  the  catalogs 
they  had  been  frequently  used. 

One  funny  incident  occurred.  Mrs.  Robinson, 
whom  everybody  swore  was  the  original  woman  with 
the  serpent's  tongue  —  she  could  never  see  good  in 
anything  or  anybody  —  came  into  the  store  in  high 
indignation,  saying  that  her  little  boy,  Wallace,  had, 
without  her  permission,  collected  her  four  mail-order 
catalogs  and  had  turned  them  into  the  store  for 
coupons,  and  she  demanded  that  I  give  the  catalogs 
back. 

I  explained  to  her  that  I  didn't  know  which  catalogs 
were  hers.  She  replied  that  I  had  catalogs  from  all 
the  mail-order  concerns,  and  I  must  give  her  one  of 
this  and  one  of  that  and  one  of  another,  or  otherwise 
she  would  make  trouble  for  me! 

I  had  had  so  many  people  talking  big  to  me  lately 
that  I  was  getting  up  a  fighting  spirit.  I  turned 
around  to  her  and  said : 

"  I'm  sorry  I  can't  comply  with  your  request.  If 
you  have  anything  else  to  say,  please  say  it.  If  not, 
good-by ! " 

Gee  whiz !  what  that  woman  did  say !  Anyway,  she 
left  the  store  after  a  while,  and  didn't  get  her 
catalogs.  She  had  never  spent  a  penny  with  me,  and 
never  would.  She  was  a  relation  of  Stigler's,  and  I 
had  a  "  hunch  "  that  he  had  put  her  up  to  it. 

Stigler  had  been  telling  all  around  town  that  I  was 
afraid  of  mail-order  competition  because  my  prices 
were  higher,  and  that  that  was  why  I  was  collecting 
the  catalogs.  He  said  he  didn't  care  how  many 
catalogs  people  had,  he  could  hold  his  own  with  com- 
petition. 


76        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

I  met  Barlow  one  lunch  time  and  he  came  over  and 
put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  saying: 

"  You  put  the  cat  among  the  pigeons  this  time, 
didn't  you?" 

"Why?"  I  replied. 

"  Well,  everybody  is  talking  about  your  buying  up 
mail-order  catalogs." 

"  I  am  not  buying  them  up." 

"  Same  thing,"  he  grinned.  "  You  are  surely  get- 
ting a  lot  of  publicity  from  it,  though.  Some  people 
think  it's  a  mighty  clever  trick,  others  think  it's  a  mean 
trick,  some  others  think  you  are  scared.  Well,  they 
are  talking  about  you,  at  any  rate.  Good  luck  to  you ! 
Go  carefully,  however." 

Well,  we  had  mail-order  catalogs  stacked  up  in 
every  corner.  I  arranged  with  a  junkman  to  buy  them 
at  quite  a  fair  price,  and,  to  my  utter  surprise,  I  got 
enough  money  from  the  sale  of  those  catalogs  to  pay 
for  the  cost  of  the  machine  and  a  little  bit  over  towards 
the  advertising! 

I  was  mighty  glad  I  had  arranged  with  the  furniture 
store  to  display  the  machine,  for  Martin,  the 
proprietor,  said  he  had  crowds  of  people  looking  at 
it.  There  was  a  sign  on  it  saying,  "  This  machine 
will  be  given  free  by  Dawson  Black  to  the  person 
drawing  the  winning  coupon  in  the  mail-order  catalog 
contest." 

Stigler  said  that  the  whole  thing  was  illegal,  and 
came  under  the  gambling  law,  but  nothing  was  done 
about  it,  and  I  knew  that,  if  it  was  illegal,  Stig- 
ler would  have  found  some  way  of  getting  at  me  on 
it. 

One  thing  was  sure  —  the  town  did  not  have  many 


A  New  Kind  of  Lottery  77 

mail-order  catalogs  in  it  after  the  contest.  I  had  a 
big  bunch  of  valuable  advertising  from  it  —  at  least, 
I  thought  it  was  valuable. 

For  some  time  Stigler  had  been  telling  around  town 
what  he  was  going  to  do  to  me.  I  had  heard  he  had 
made  the  remark  that  he  was  going  to  cut  the  heart 
out  of  me,  and  he  surely  tried  to,  for,  whenever  I  had 
anything  in  my  window  or  advertised  in  the  papers, 
he  immediately  turned  around  and  sold  the  same 
article  at  a  lower  price.  Whenever  I  had  found  him 
doing  this,  I  had  immediately  cut  down  below  him, 
and  many  things  I  had  to  sell  below  cost.  But  I 
didn't  see  any  help  for  it  —  I  couldn't  let  him  get 
ahead  of  me  on  prices  like  that.  I  felt  that  I  had 
to  follow  his  lead  wherever  he  went,  and  trust  to 
making  my  profit  out  of  other  things.  But  it  surely 
was  heartbreaking  to  have  a  fellow  like  that  bucking 
me. 

One  day,  Rob  Sirle,  the  editor  of  Hardware  Times 
called  on  me.  He  said  he  had  heard  about  my  stunt 
for  beating  the  mail-order  people  and  he  wanted  to 
know  about  it. 

I  told  him  all  about  it,  but  somehow  he  didn't  seem 
very  much  impressed.  He  didn't  say  much  about  it, 
but  I  remembered  that  some  one  had  remarked  to  me 
at  the  convention  that  he  never  spoke  about  anything 
unless  he  could  boost  it. 

I  told  him  about  Stigler  and  the  price-cutting  con- 
test that  was  then  on  between  us. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  you  want  to  do  to  beat  that," 
said  he.  "  You  put  goods  in  your  window  to-morrow 
morning  and  mark  them  at  exact  invoice  price.  Wait 
until  friend  Stigler  has  put  the  same  goods  in  his 


78        Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

window  at  less  than  cost,  and  then,  as  soon  as  he 
has  done  it,  remove  your  price  tickets.  If  any  one 
comes  in  to  buy  them,  sell  them  only  at  regular  price, 
except,  of  course,  if  they  come  in  while  the  cut  price 
is  marked  on  them.  You  can  well  afford  to  let  Stigler 
sell  all  the  goods  he  wants  at  below  cost  price,  be- 
cause the  more  he  sells  the  more  quickly  he  will 
eliminate  himself  as  a  competitor. 

"  Every  day  you  can  put  a  new  line  in  the  window. 
I  don't  think  it  will  be  very  long  before  he  gives  up 
the  foolish  task  of  cutting  his  own  throat.  I  always 
compare  the  price-cutter,"  he  said  musingly,  "  with  a 
hog  which  cuts  its  own  throat  as  it  swims.  That  is 
just  what  the  indiscriminate  price-cutter  does.  He 
cuts  his  own  throat  first.  I  never  saw  a  price-cutter 
yet  who  had  a  real,  solid  business.  People  are  wise 
these  days,  you  know.  You  offer  anything  at  less  than 
cost  price  and  people  flock  to  buy  it;  but  it  doesn't 
mean  that  they  are  necessarily  going  to  buy  other 
goods  at  the  same  time.  No,  sir!  They'll  buy  the 
cut-price  goods  from  the  cut-price  store,  but  they'll 
buy  the  regular  goods  at  a  regular  price  from  the  store 
which  offers  them  courteous  service  in  place  of  cut- 
price  chicanery ! " 

I  at  once  decided  to  follow  his  advice. 

I  happened  to  mention  to  him  that  I  went  to  Boston 
quite  often.  He  asked  me  if  I  knew  Barker,  the  hard- 
ware man  there.  "  Quite  a  big  man  in  the  hardware 
trade,"  said  he.  "  You  ought  to  meet  him.  Here," 
and  he  wrote  me  a  card  of  introduction,  "  next  time 
you  go  to  Boston,  drop  in  and  see  him.  If  you  ever 
get  into  any  difficulty  he's  just  the  man  to  help  you." 

And  then,  having  in  the  most  matter-of-fact  manner 


A  New  Kind  of  Lottery  79 

given  me  an  introduction  to  one  of  the  biggest  live 
wires  in  the  trade,  he  turned  around  and  sauntered 
out  of  the  store. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SOME   IDEAS    IN    BUYING 

ISN'T  it  astonishing  how  easy  it  is  to  do  things 
wrong ! 

A  salesman  came  in  one  morning  from  the  Cincin- 
nati Pencil  Sharpener  Company  to  offer  me  the  local 
agency  for  the  firm's  pencil  pointers.  He  walked  into 
the  store  with  what  I  said  to  myself  was  a  silly  grin, 
but  Larsen,  when  we  were  talking  the  matter  over 
afterward,  said  he  looked  a  jolly,  good-natured  fellow, 
so  perhaps  it  was  just  my  nerves  twisting  things 
around. 

I  was  just  going  over  my  stock  of  butt  hinges  when 
he  came  in.  I  was  feeling  disappointed  because  our 
stock  was  lower  than  I  had  thought  it  was,  since  I 
was  getting  so  that  I  positively  hated  to  buy!  Well, 
I  looked  up  at  him  and  snapped : 

"  What  do  you  want?  " 

"  Good  afternoon,  Mr.  Black,"  he  replied.  "  I 
represent  the  Cincinnati  Pencil  Sharpener  Company, 
and  I  want — " 

Here  I  broke  in  testily: 

"  I'm  too  busy  now.  Besides,  we're  not  in  the  sta- 
tionery line.  You  want  to  go  to  a  stationer  with  that 
thing.  .  .  .  Well,"  I  said  angrily,  as  he  made  no  at- 
tempt to  go,  "  if  there  is  anything  else  you  want  to 

80 


Some  Ideas  in  Buying  81 

say,  please  say  it  quickly;  if  not,  you  will  have  to 
excuse  me,  because  I  am  really  too  busy  to  waste  time 
with  drummers  to-day." 

"  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Black,"  he  returned  a  little  hotly, 
"  I  am  not  a  drummer  —  I  am  a  salesman.  I  came 
to  talk  with  you  about  giving  you  a  special  agency, 
but  it  is  evident  that  in  your  present  frame  of  mind 
I  would  only  be  wasting  my  time.  I  will  come  back 
later." 

With  that  he  walked  out  of  the  store. 

I  certainly  felt  mad!  I  could  have  chewed  ten- 
penny  nails! 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  such  impudence  ?  "  I  cried  to 
Larsen. 

Larsen  looked  up  with  that  queer  little  expression 
on  his  face  that  I  had  come  to  recognize  as  preceding 
something  that  disagreed  with  me,  and  said : 

"  Impudence  by  who,  Boss?  " 

"By  him,  of  course!  I'm  the  Boss  here,  and,  if 
there  is  any  kow-towing  to  be  done,  he's  the  fellow 
to  do  it!" 

Larsen  didn't  say  another  word,  but  shook  his  head. 

"  Larsen,"  said  I  testily,  "  you  seem  to  take  delight 
in  pointing  out  flaws  in  my  management!  " 

Again  I  saw  that  queer  expression  come  into  his 
face. 

"  Management,"  I  cried,  "  not  mismanagement ! 
What  was  wrong  with  what  I  did  just  now?  " 

Larsen  did  sometimes  make  me  mad,  but  I  usually 
found  on  thinking  things  over  that  he  was  very  logical 
in  his  reasoning.  I  had  learned  a  lot  from  him  and 
I  had  come  to  depend  on  him  a  good  deal,  and  he  had 
got  me  so  that  he  was  quite  free  with  me. 


82        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

He  walked  toward  me,  leaned  against  a  counter, 
and  said : 

"  Boss,  drummers  like  him  makes  money.  More 
money  than  most  retailers.  From  money  angle  he  is 
as  good  as  people  he  sells  to.  He  must  know  goods 
to  sell  them.  In  that  way  he  is  equal  to  the  merchant. 
He  travels  over  the  country  and  he  gets  lots  of  ideas 
—  and  all  that.  He  generally  has  good  schooling  and 
comes  from  good  home.  He  is,  in  how  he  lives  and 
who  he  knows,  equal  of  his  customers.  Then,  again, 
store  keepers  would  be  in  a  h  —  " 

"Tut,  tut!"  I  said. 

" —  In  a  deuce  of  a  mess  if  traveling  salesmen  did 
not  call.  You  hear  about  new  stuff  from  drummers. 
Suppose  you  get  mad  and  they  won't  call?  You  are 
real  loser.  Simpson  used  to  be  that  way.  You  know, 
Boss,  I  used  to  hear  some  of  them  salesmen  damn 
him  like  they  meant  it.  One  feller  came  here  with 
agency  for  Stamford  saws.  Now,  you  know,  Boss, 
Stamford  saws  is  one  of  best  agencies  Barlow  has. 
Simpson  could  have  got  it.  I  don't  know  why  he 
come  to  Simpson  first,  because  Barlow  is  —  was  — 
leading  hardware  man  in  town." 

I  smiled  at  the  implied  compliment. 

"  Well,  in  he  come  here,  and  Simpson  treat  him 
about  like  —  well,  he  treat  him  like  a  dog.  You  know 
what  that  feller  did?" 

"No,"  I  replied  curiously,  "what  did  he  do?" 

"  He  put  his  grip  on  the  floor,  walked  around  the 
counter,  took  hold  of  Simpson's  nose  and  gave  it  one 
h  — "  I  held  up  my  finger  warningly  —  "a  deuce  of 
a  pull!" 

My  hand  unconsciously  went  to  my  nose,  and  I  saw 


Some  Ideas  in  Buying  83 

a  twinkle  come  into  Larsen' s  eyes  as  he  noticed  the 
movement. 

"  Well,  that  feller,  he  went  right  over  to  Barlow. 
Barlow  knew  a  good  thing  when  he  saw  it.  He  tied 
up  that  agency." 

"  Good  Heavens,"  I  said,  "  it  never  dawned  on  me 
that  any  traveling  salesman  wouldn't  be  only  too 
tickled  to  do  business  with  anybody  he  could !  " 

"  I  tell  you,  Boss,"  said  Larsen,  "  I  have  been  in 
retail  business  now,  let's  see  —  forty  years.  The 
more  I  see  of  drummers  the  better  they  seem.  If  I 
were  boss  of  a  store  I'd  never  turn  a  salesman  down 
cold.  If  I  couldn't  buy  I  would  say  no,  like  I  was 
sorry.  Some  day  that  feller  would  have  a  real  bar- 
gain. Would  he  offer  it  to  the  feller  who  balls  him 
out?  No,  sir-ree!  He  tip  off  to  the  feller  who 
treated  him  white. 

"  Just  think,  Boss,"  he  continued,  "  going  around 
from  town  after  town.  Lot  of  places  he  sleep  at 
just  like  what  a  bum  has.  Lots  of  folks  give  him 
cold  turn-down.  When  he  gets  decent  treatment 
from  a  merchant,  he  look  upon  it  as  a  —  what  do  you 
call  the  place  in  the  sand  where  they  have  trees  and 
water?" 

"  An  oasis  in  the  desert  ?  " 

"  Yes,  that's  it,  Boss.     An  oasis  in  the  desert." 

"  Larsen,  you  old  vagabond,  I  believe  you're  right ; 
and  if  that  pencil  sharpener  fellow  doesn't  give  his 
agency  to  Barlow  " —  I  grinned  as  I  said  this  — "  I'll 
—  I'll  turn  him  down  with  a  smile !  " 

"  That's  all  right,  Boss ;  but  how  you  know  you 
want  to  turn  him  down?  " 

"  Oh,  we  don't  want  to  handle  those  things.     We're 


84        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

not  in  the  stationery  business.  That's  a  stationer's 
line!" 

"  Buy  why?  "  persisted  Larsen. 

"  Why  ?     Because  stationers  sell  pencils !  " 

"  Y-yes,  y-yes,"  said  Larsen  with  a  drawl,  "  and 
so  do  5  and  ic-cent  stores  —  and  department  stores 
—  and  drygood  stores  —  and  drug  stores.  Why  not 
hardware  stores?  Do  you  know,  Boss,  I  think  hard- 
ware people  sleepy  on  the  switch.  We  sell  razors, 
and  then  let  the  fellers  go  to  the  drug  store  to  buy 
powder  an'  soap  an'  brushes.  We  got  a  few  brushes, 
but  seem  scared  to  show  'em.  What  happens?  The 
druggist  sells  'em  the  powder  and  then  they  give  us 
a  devil " —  again  I  put  up  my  hand,  I  was  trying  to 
break  Larsen  of  swearing  — "  well,  they  give  us  a  run 
for  our  money  because  they  sell  razors.  I  was  up  to 
New  York  last  year,  and  I  saw  a  drug  store  that  had 
a  picture  frame  department,  and  a  line  of  toys,  and 
brass  and  copper  novelties  — everything  what  we  ought 
to  sell  and  what  was  ours  till  we  let  these  other  stores 
swipe  it  from  us." 

Here  Larsen  stopped  for  breath.  This  was  a  lot 
for  him  to  say  at  one  time,  but  he  was  "  wound  up  " 
evidently  for  he  resumed. 

"Look  at  automobiles!  If  we  fellers  had  been 
alive,  we  would  not  have  let  them  specialty  places  crop 
up  all  over  the  place.  Hardware  stores  oughter  have 
the  garage.  We  oughter  have  the  profits  of  auto- 
mobile accessories.  Some  fellers  are  getting  alive  to 
the  job,  but  some  still  say  we  oughten  ter  butt 
into  somebody  else's  line !  "  He  sneered  as  he  said 
this. 

"  If  I  owned  a  hardware  store  I  would  sell  any- 


Some  Ideas  in  Buying  85 

thing  I  could  get  a  profit  on.  I'd  put  in  a  line  of 
pastry  if  I  thought  I  could  get  away  with  it! " 

"  Your  forty-five  years  in  the  hardware  trade  hasn't 
got  you  into  a  rut  then,  Larsen  ? "  I  said  with  a 
smile. 

"You  bet  your  life,  nix,  Boss!  You  are  the  first 
man  that  let  me  speak  right  out  to  him,  and  you  know 
I  don't  mean  to  be  —  to  be  —  you  know  what  I  mean 
—  bossy  like.  But  it  gets  my  goat  how  hardware 
folks  has  let  good  things  get  away  from  them !  " 

I  had  sometimes  wondered  why  Larsen,  with  all 
his  experience  and  knowledge,  and  many  good  ideas 
that  I  had  found  him  to  have,  hadn't  got  farther 
ahead  in  the  world.  I  had  decided  that  it  was  perhaps 
because  he  was  lacking  in  a  certain  independence  of 
spirit  —  and  while  he  spoke  freely  to  me,  and  wasn't 
afraid  to  correct  me,  it  was  more  because  I  was  young 
and  inexperienced  compared  with  him,  and  because 
I  had  got  so  I  didn't  take  offense  at  it.  Perhaps  under 
an  older  and  sterner  boss  he  would  have  been  rather 
afraid  to  give  expression  to  his  views.  However,  he 
certainly  was  valuable  to  me. 

The  conversation  ended  there,  because  the  salesman 
from  the  Cincinnati  Pencil  Sharpener  Company  came 
in  again.  I  didn't  wait  for  him  to  say  anything,  but 
beckoned  to  him,  and  said: 

"  I  can  give  you  a  little  time  now.  I  was  really 
busy  before,  and  I  am  afraid  I  spoke  a  little  more 
sharply  than  I  meant  to." 

"  That's  all  right,  Mr.  Black,"  he  replied.  "  I  think 
I  owe  you  an  apology  for  losing  my  temper.  A  man 
in  my  position  can't  afford  to  lose  his  temper.  I'll  tell 
you  now  my  proposition.  Mr.  Sirle  of  Hardware 


86        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

Times  told  me  you  were  a  coming  man  in  the  business 
and  suggested  I  show  you  this  line." 

"  Well,"  I  replied  hesitatingly,  "  it  seems  to  me  that 
a  pencil  sharpener  is  not  just  the  thing  for  a  hardware 
man  to  sell." 

"  Mr.  Black,"  he  responded,  "  I  am  not  going  to  try 
to  persuade  you  what  a  hardware  store  should  or 
should  not  sell;  but  I  want  to  show  you,  with  your 
permission,  what  you  can  make  by  handling  this  line. 
I  have  spent  most  of  the  day  around  here  calling  on 
some  of  the  residents  and  other  people.  I  have  taken 
orders  for  eighteen  of  these  pencil  sharpeners.  I  will 
turn  these  orders  over  to  you  and  you  can  deliver  them 
and  make  the  profit  on  them." 

He  passed  me  over  eighteen  orders  for  the  dollar 
Cincinnati  Pencil  Sharpener,  "  to  be  delivered  by  the 
local  hardware  store." 

"  These  sharpeners,"  he  continued,  "  cost  you  69^ 
each  f.  o.  b.  Cincinnati.  We  will  turn  these  orders 
over  to  you  on  the  condition  that  you  buy  an  addi- 
tional eighteen.  That  is  three  dozen  in  all.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  if  you  wish  to  use  this  '  ad '  in  your  local 
paper  " — and  here  he  showed  me  a  very  attractive  ad- 
vertisement for  the  pencil  sharpener  — "  which  will 
cost  $4.00  an  issue  in  both  your  papers  — " 

"  How  do  you  know?  "  I  broke  in  quickly. 

"  Because  we  found  out  before  we  came  here. — 
We  will  pay  half  the  cost  of  three  insertions.  You 
notice  the  '  ad/  is  already  prepared,  except  for  fill- 
ing in  your  name.  We  don't  provide  electrotypes  be- 
cause, if  we  did,  your  local  paper  might  not  have  the 
type  to  harmonize  with  the  rest  of  the  '  ad./  so  that 
it  would  look  like  a  regular  filled-in  affair;  but  by 


Some  Ideas  in  Buying  87 

having  the  paper  use  the  nearest  type  to  this  that  they 
have,  the  advertisement  has  the  stamp  of  your  own 
individuality." 

That  was  a  pretty  good  thought,  it  seemed  to  me. 

Well,  the  upshot  of  it  was  that  I  bought  the  three 
dozen,  and  agreed  to  run  the  advertisement  on  the 
Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday  following  the  ar- 
rival of  the  sharpeners. 

I  shook  hands  with  him  as  he  left  the  store,  and 
couldn't  help  thinking  that  my  foolish  haste  and  rude- 
ness might  have  lost  me  what  I  was  convinced  would 
be  a  valuable  agency  to  me. 

As  he  left  the  store  —  Mr.  Downs  was  his  name  — 
he  gave  me  a  little  booklet,  which  he  said  might  re- 
fresh my  memory  on  a  few  points  which  I  was  doubt- 
less familiar  with.  The  booklet  was  entitled  "  A  few 
reminders  on  selling  methods  for  Cincinnati  Pencil 
Sharpeners."  It  outlined  methods  of  approaching 
schools,  private  houses,  business  offices,  etc.,  giving 
samples  of  form  letters  and  a  whole  lot  of  useful  sell- 
ing information. 

It  seemed  to  me  on  looking  it  over  that  no  one  could 
help  buying  those  pencil  sharpeners! 

It  never  occurred  to  me,  until  after  he  had  left  the 
store,  to  ask  about  the  quality  of  the  sharpener  and 
I  wondered  why,  and  then  I  realized  that  I  had  bought 
the  pencil  sharpeners,  not  because  of  their  quality,  but 
because  of  the  sales  plan  which  had  already  been 
worked  out  for  me. 

If  other  concerns,  who  sent  salesmen  to  see  me, 
had  presented  worked-out  plans  like  these  they  would 
have  had  more  business  from  me.  I  don't  know  how 
it  was,  but  I  seemed  to  be  rushed  all  the  time  with 


88        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

so  many  little  things  that  I  hadn't  had  the  time  to  try 
to  think  out  plans  and  ideas  for  selling;  and  the  fact 
that  it  was  easy  for  me  to  go  ahead  to  sell  these  pencil 
sharpeners  was  the  main  thing  that  induced  me  to  buy 
them. 

Larsen  was  unquestionably  pleased,  and  the  man 
had  hardly  gone  out  of  the  store  when  he  said: 

"  Couldn't  one  of  our  fellers  go  to  folks  and  sell 
some?  .  .  .  And  couldn't  we  sell  pencils,  .  .  .  and 
while  we  are  about  it — " 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  Larsen,"  I  cried,  "  you're  try- 
ing to  run  me  off  my  feet !  " 

The  thought  of  sending  salesmen  out  to  get  busi- 
ness for  a  retail  store  had  never  occurred  to  me, 
although  on  thinking  it  over  it  seemed  so  reasonable 
that  I  decided  to  think  it  over  some  more,  and  maybe  I 
would  send  one  of  the  boys  out  to  see  if  he  could  not 
drum  up  some  business  on  those  pencil  sharpeners,  and 
perhaps  some  other  things. 


CHAPTER  XV 

HOW   TO   STOP   SWEARING 

LARSEN  was  a  bully  good  fellow,  but  I  found  that  in 
one  way  he  was  hurting  the  help,  as  his  habit  of  swear- 
ing seemed  to  have  been  caught  by  the  other  fellows  in 
the  store. 

Somewhat  with  fear  and  trembling  I  got  the  force 
all  together  one  night  and  gave  them  a  little  talk  on 
business  conduct.  Goodness  knows  I  felt  quite  incom- 
petent to  speak  about  it,  but  I  felt  that  it  was  neces- 
sary, particularly  as  I  had  noticed  Jones  and  Wilkes 
swearing  badly,  and  even  doing  it  when  there  were 
customers  in  the  store.  From  the  language  they  used, 
it  was  evident  that  Larsen  was  the  source  of  inspira- 
tion. I  spoke  to  them  somewhat  like  this: 

"  It's  only  a  few  weeks  ago,  fellows,  since  I  was  a 
clerk  at  Barlow's,  so  I  know  how  you  fellows  feel  and 
think,  because  I  thought  very  much  like  you  do  now. 
You  know  there  are  certain  things  which  a  boss  real- 
izes which  an  employee  doesn't.  I  really  want  you 
fellows  to  know  that  I  want  to  help  you  in  any  way  I 
can." 

Larsen  chipped  in  here,  saying : 

"  I  know  he  does  that !  " 

I  silenced  him,  however,  and  went  on: 

"  You  fellows  represent  this  store  when  you  are  in 

89 


90        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

it  and  out  of  it.  The  way  you  conduct  yourself  is  to 
the  public  the  way  this  store  conducts  itself.  For  in- 
stance, if  I  were  to  get  drunk  nights,  that  would  re- 
flect on  the  store,  wouldn't  it  ?  " 

They  nodded  in  agreement. 

"  Now,  if  I  were  to  be  using  bad  language  all  the 
time,  that  would  reflect  on  the  store  also,  wouldn't  it  ?  " 

Again  they  nodded  yes,  but  not  with  the  same  em- 
phasis as  before. 

"  There's  one  thing,"  I  continued,  "  that  we  all  have 
to  learn  to  stop.  It  is  so  easy  to  slip  into  bad  language 
that  we  use  it  before  we  realize  it;  but  it  is  a  bad  habit 
and  one  that,  I  am  sure,  does  hurt  the  standing  of  the 
business.  So  I  am  going  to  ask  you  fellows,  for  one 
thing,  to  stop  using  bad  language  in  and  out  of  the 
store.  I'll  go  further,  and  say  I  will  not  allow  it  in 
the  store  at  all;  and  if  I  find  any  one  swearing,  either 
about  something  or  at  something,  I  shall  put  a  black 
mark  against  his  name. 

"  Now,"  I  continued,  and  here  I  brought  out  a  little 
tin  box,  "  I  have  put  a  dollar  in  this  box  to  start  a 
fund.  At  Christmas  any  money  that  is  in  this  box 
we  will  turn  over  to  the  Christmas  Tree  Fund  run  by 
The  Enterprise  every  year.  If  any  of  you  fellows 
catch  me  swearing,  tell  me,  and  I'll  put  a  quarter  in 
the  box.  If  any  of  you  other  fellows  are  caught 
swearing  I  think  you  ought  to  put  something  in  the  box 
—  if  it  is  only  a  dime  or  a  nickel,  even.  You  under- 
stand," I  said,  "  that  there  is  nothing  compulsory  about 
this,  but  it  should  be  a  bit  of  good  fun  to  keep  check 
on  each  other  in  that  way,  and  if  any  one  of  us  for- 
gets himself  and  lets  loose  some  language  that  isn't 
proper  English,  he  may  console  himself  with  knowing 


How  to  Stop  Swearing  91 

that  his  flow  of  language  may  mean  a  new  doll  for 
some  poor  kiddie.  Is  that  a  go?  "  I  asked. 

Larsen  chirped  right  up  and  said : 

"  You  bet  it  is !  It's  one  good  h of  a  —  "  he 

grinned  sheepishly,  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket,  and 
dropped  a  quarter  in  the  box,  while  a  howl  of  laughter 
went  up  from  the  other  fellows. 

That  one  laugh  seemed  to  break  the  ice,  and  for  the 
first  time  we  all  seemed  to  have  a  good  understanding 
of  each  other.  They  all  pledged  themselves  to  a  fine 
of  a  dime  every  time  they  swore. 

"  There  is  one  other  thing  I  am  going  to  say  at  this 
time,"  I  continued,  when  that  question  had  been  set- 
tled, "  and  that  is  that  every  Monday  evening  I  am 
going  to  have  a  general  meeting  of  all  men  who  have 
done  their  duty  during  the  week.  It  will  last  for 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  only,  and  I  shall  look  upon 
it  as  a  kind  of  directors'  meeting. 

"  You  know,"  I  said,  "  that  directors  get  paid  for 
every  meeting  they  attend.  Now,  I  am  going  to  pay 
all  you  fellows  half  a  dollar  for  attending  this  direc- 
tors' meeting  every  Monday. 

"  You  will  be  at  liberty  to  say  anything  you  wish. 
You  can  roast  the  store  policy,  or  me,  or  any  one  of  us 
here,  and  whatever  takes  place  at  this  meeting  will  be 
considered  merely  as  an  outside  affair  and  nothing  to 
affect  our  relationship  in  the  business.  In  other 
words,  you  have  a  free  hand  to  go  as  far  as  you  like  in 
that  meeting  and  know  that  there  will  be  no  kick  from 
me  on  it. 

"  Next  Monday  we'll  all  get  together  and  talk  things 
over  generally.  If  any  of  you  have  any  suggestions 
to  make,  shoot  them  along  next  Monday.  A  week 


92        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

from  Monday,  however,  we'll  name  one  definite  thing 
for  discussion  among  ourselves." 

I  gave  the  boys  a  cigar  each  and  the  meeting  ad- 
journed. 

I  felt  that  that  night's  work  was  well  worth  while, 
for  I  soon  noticed  a  little  different  attitude  in  the  men. 
Eighty  cents,  however,  went  the  first  day  into  our 
"  swear  box."  I  began  to  wonder  whether  their  dimes 
or  whether  their  bad  language  would  hold  out  the 
longest. 

The  idea  seemed  pretty  simple,  after  it  had  been 
tried,  and  found  to  be  a  success,  but  it  wasn't  such  a 
simple  thing  for  me  to  think  up.  It  had  started  when 
Betty  read  in  a  paper  about  how  the  inmates  of  a  prison 
were  given  a  voice  in  the  running  of  it,  and  that  had 
set  me  thinking  about  giving  the  employees  a  hand  in 
running  the  business,  and  the  plan  grew  out  of  that. 
I  had  been  convinced  from  the  start  that  it  would 
work  out  well. 

A  customer  had  come  into  the  store  one  day  and 
asked  for  an  8-in.  aluminum  saucepan.  Jones  had 
waited  on  her,  and  had  replied : 

"  Sorry,  madam,  but  we  are  out  of  that  size." 

The  customer  had  turned  and  left,  and  I  had 
watched  her  make  a  bee  line  for  Stigler's.  Then  and 
there  I  began  to  consider  whether  it  would  not  have 
been  possible  to  have  sold  her  something,  instead  of  al- 
lowing her  to  turn  away.  I  reasoned  that,  while  she 
asked  for  an  8-in.  saucepan,  she  might  have  been  just 
as  well  satisfied  with  a  7-in.  or  a  Q-in.  or  something 
else.  Jones  had  not,  however,  made  any  attempt  to 
see  if  something  else  would  suit  her.  I  reasoned  that 
there  were  also  many  cases  like  this  coming  up  every 


How  to  Stop  Swearing  93 

week,  and  that  if  we  could  only  outline  some  standard 
method  of  handling  such  cases,  it  would  mean  quite  a 
lot  of  sales  saved  —  and,  better  still,  in  customers 
saved.  That  customer  who  went  out,  if  she  found 
what  she  asked  for  at  Stigler's,  would  probably  figure 
that  we  did  not  have  a  very  complete  stock,  and,  in  any 
case,  when  we  forced  a  customer  to  buy  somewhere 
else  it  tended  to  cultivate  the  habit  of  trading  there. 

I  figured  that  here  was  a  good  subject  to  bring  up  for 
our  meeting  the  following  Monday,  and  I  sat  down 
to  work  out  some  general  rule  to  cover  such  situations. 

It  took  a  long  time  for  my  inexperienced  mind  to 
put  in  writing  that  I  wanted  to  say,  but  finally,  with 
the  help  of  Betty,  I  evolved  the  following,  and  then, 
deciding  that  it  was  such  an  important  matter  that  it 
ought  not  to  be  delayed  until  the  next  Monday,  I  had 
it  typewritten,  and  gave  a  copy  to  each  of  the  force. 

This  is  what  I  wrote : 

"  Never  tell  a  customer  we  are  out  of  stock  of  any- 
thing. If  something  is  asked  for  that  is  not  in  stock, 
offer  the  customer  something  else  that  will,  in  your  judg- 
ment, satisfy  her.  If  a  customer,  for  example,  should 
ask  for  an  8-in.  aluminum  saucepan  and  we  are  out  of 
that  size,  bring  her  both  a  7-in.  and  a  p-in.  size  and  say : 
'  These  are  the  nearest  we  have  to  the  8-in.  size.  Which 
of  these  would  suit  you  best?'  If  the  customer  should 
hesitate,  impress  upon  her  the  benefit  of  buying  a  sauce- 
pan rather  larger  than  she  anticipates  needing.  If  the 
customer  says  that  nothing  but  the  8-in.  size  will  suit 
her,  suggest  that  you  can  give  her  an  enameled  pan  in 
that  size,  and  if  that  won't  do,  ask  her  to  leave  her  name 
and  address  and  we  will  have  one  expressed  to  her 
promptly  from  the  manufacturer.  Apply  methods  simi- 
lar to  these  in  every  case  when  we  are  asked  for  some- 


94        Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

thing  of  which  we  are  out  of  stock.  Make  it  a  rule  never 
to  allow  a  customer  to  leave  the  store  without  making 
every  attempt  to  sell  her  something  that  will  be  satis- 
factory to  her." 

I  was  really  pleased  with  myself  when  I  heard  an 
animated  discussion  on  this  new  rule.  Jones  ex- 
claimed : 

"  Jiminny  Christmas,  the  Boss  has  got  more  sense 
than  I  thought  he  had !  " 

I  told  Betty  that,  when  I  got  home,  and  she  imme- 
diately fingered  all  my  vest  buttons. 

"  What's  that  for?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  think,"  she  said  gravely,  but  with  a  twinkle  in 
her  eye,  "  you  had  better  take  off  your  vest  and  let  me 
fasten  those  buttons  with  wires,  or  else  you'll  be  burst- 
ing them,  through  swelling  with  pride !  " 


CHAPTER  XVI 

A   PROPER   USE   FOR   EYES 

I  MET  Barlow  one  morning  taking  his  "  constitu- 
tional." While  I  was  working  for  him  we  fellows 
always  used  to  laugh  at  his  plan  of  going  for  a  walk 
every  day  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes.  We  used  to 
think  it  was  a  freak  notion  of  his  for  keeping  in  health. 

Barlow  shook  hands  with  me  and  asked  me  how 
business  was  going.  I  told  him  that  sales  were  pick- 
ing up  very  slowly.  Then  he  asked  me : 

"  And  how  is  friend  Stigler  affecting  you  now  ?  " 

I  told  him  about  the  scheme  I  had  been  working  on 
Stigler. 

"But,"  I  concluded,  "I  don't  bother  much  with 
thinking  about  him  now." 

"  That's  excellent !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  He  isn't  do- 
ing any  too  well,  I  know,  and  he  has  some  time  on  his 
hands  to  talk.  You  forget  him  as  much  as  possible 
and  just  go  ahead  and  '  saw  wood.' ' 

"  That's  what  I'm  trying  to  do.  But  I'm  still  keep- 
ing up  that  plan  of  marking  down  the  goods  in  the 
window  for  an  hour  in  the  morning  until  he  cuts  his 
goods." 

Barlow  chuckled  at  that :  "  It  is  amusing,"  he  said, 
"  that  Stigler  hasn't  yet  realized  that  you  are  not  cut- 
ting your  own  prices  but  merely  making  him  cut  his !  " 

"  But,  really,"  I  said,  "  so  much  is  always  happening 

95 


96        Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

that  I've  forgotten  almost  everything  but  business." 
"  I'm  very  glad  to  hear  it,  Dawson,"  he  replied, 
"  and  you'll  find  that,  as  long  as  you  are  going  on  the 
right  track,  that  same  spirit  will  continue.  I  find  busi- 
ness so  crowded  with  interesting  things  that  I  can 
hardly  tear  myself  away  from  it  at  night." 

"  I  notice,  though,"  I  said,  with  a  sly  smile,  "  that 
you  still  take  your  half  hour's  constitutional  every 
morning." 

"  Surely  you  know  what  I  do  that  for  ?  " 
"  What  is  it,  if  it  isn't  to  keep  yourself  in  trim  or 
something  of  that  kind?  " 

"  I'll  tell  you,  Dawson :  A  man  can't  be  in  the  same 
surroundings  long  without  becoming  blind  to  their 
physical  aspects.  If  I  were  to  stay  in  the  store  all 
the  time,  I  would  soon  become  blind  to  poor  window 
displays,  to  disorderliness  and  neglect  about  the  store 
—  to  those  hundred  and  one  defects  which  creep  up  in  a 
store  and  which  react  unfavorably  on  customers.  So 
I  make  a  point  every  day  of  putting  on  my  hat  and 
walking  around  a  few  blocks,  looking  at  the  other 
stores,  familiarizing  myself  with  the  window  trims, 
keeping  a  line  on  new  ideas,  and  the  like.  And  by  the 
way,  Dawson,  I  have  obtained  some  of  my  best  ideas 
of  window  trimming  from  displays  in  other  stores  — 
not  hardware  stores,  I  mean.  I  had  a  splendid  idea 
for  a  trim  one  time  from  a  display  at  Middal's."  Mid- 
dal  ran  a  stationery  store.  "  Tony  once  had  an  ar- 
rangement of  fruit  in  his  window  that  gave  me  a  good 
idea  for  a  tool  display. 

"  I  tell  you,  Dawson,  there  are  good  ideas  lying 
around  everywhere,  and  it  only  requires  a  little  imag- 
ination to  adapt  them  to  your  own  uses.  It's  a  poor 


A  Proper  Use  for  Eyes  97 

sort  of  merchant  who  cannot  use  the  good  ideas  from 
other  lines  of  business  and  adapt  them  to  his  own  re- 
quirements." 

"  So  that's  why  you  take  your  morning  constitu- 
tional ?  "  I  asked.  "  To  see  what  good  ideas  you  can 
pick  up !  " 

"  Yes,  I  see  what  good  ideas  I  can  pick  up,  but  that's 
only  one  part  of  it.  My  main  idea  is  to  let  my  eyes 
see  something  other  than  what  they  are  in  the  habit  of 
seeing.  I  want  them  to  get  away  from  looking  at  the 
environment  of  the  store,  so  that  when  I  return  from 
my  '  constitutional,'  as  you  call  it,  I  can  look  at  my 
store  as  if  I  were  a  casual  visitor.  Every  time  I  ap- 
proach it  I  say  to  myself,  '  What  would  I,  as  a 
stranger,  think  of  that  store?'  And  I  find  that,  by 
looking  at  it  in  this  way,  I  keep  my  viewpoint  fresh. 
I  quickly  notice  any  flaws  in  the  store  management." 

"  Then  all  that  time  I  was  working  with  you  and 
thought,  with  all  the  other  fellows,  that  it  was  a  crank 
idea  of  yours,  you  were  really  following  out  a  defi- 
nite store  policy,  as  it  were?  " 

"  Exactly." 

"  Then,"  I  blurted  out,  "  why  didn't  you  ever  tell  us 
what  it  was  for?  We  could  perhaps  have  done  the 
same  thing !  " 

"  I  never  told  you,"  he  answered,  "  because  I  felt 
it  wouldn't  help  you  fellows,  and  I  didn't  think  it  wise 
to  tell  my  help  what  I  was  doing.  You  see  my  point  ?  " 
he  said,  with  a  smile. 

"  I  feel  foolish  to  think  of  disagreeing  with  you,  Mr. 
Barlow,"  I  said,  "  but  candidly,  I  think  it  would  have 
paid  to  have  told  us.  I  believe  a  boss  gets  more  out 
of  his  men  when  he  tells  them  what  he  is  working  for. 


98         Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

I  think,  too,  that  many  bosses  are  afraid  to  let  the  men 
see  the  wheels  go  round.  I  may  be  wrong,  but  I  am 
going  on  the  plan  of  telling  the  fellows  as  much  as 
possible  about  the  business.  I  believe  that  the  more 
they  know  about  the  business,  the  more  interest  they 
will  take  in  it,  and  the  better  they  will  be  able  to  work 
in  its  interests." 

We  were  strolling  toward  my  store  and  were  just 
passing  Stigler's  at  that  minute.  Stigler  was  standing 
at  the  door,  and,  as  we  passed,  he  said  with  a  grin : 

"  Good  morning,  gentlemen.  Hatching  up  a  new 
conspiracy  to  corner  the  hardware  trade  in  the  town? 
If  so,  don't  fail  to  let  me  in.  I'm  always  looking  for 
an  easy  thing,  you  know.  K-ha !  " 

Barlow  turned  around  with  a  laugh,  and  said : 

"  You  always  will  have  your  bit  of  fun,  won't  you, 
Stigler?" 

I  was  too  mad  to  say  anything. 

"  I'm  surprised  you  can  joke  with  him  like  that!  " 
I  said  to  Barlow.  But  then  he  turned  around,  and  I 
saw  a  snap  in  his  eye  which  told  me  that  he  was  really 
angry,  just  as  much  as  I  was,  but  had  learned  to  control 
his  feelings  better. 

Well,  we  shook  hands,  and  I  left  him  to  go  into  the 
store.  His  closing  remark  was : 

"  Stick  to  it,  Dawson!  Call  on  me  if  I  can  help  you 
at  any  time,  and,  while  you  don't  want  to  be  spying  on 
Stigler,  of  course,  keep  your  eye  open." 

But  when  we  parted  I  suddenly  decided,  instead  of 
going  into  the  store,  to  try  Barlow's  plan  and  take  a 
stroll  around  the  block  and  then  try  to  view  the  store 
as  if  I  were  a  customer.  I  felt  a  little  disappointed, 
then,  at  the  general  appearance  of  the  outside  of  the 


A  Proper  Use  for  Eyes  99 

store.  More  paint  would  certainly  improve  it.  In 
fact,  it  was  a  kind  of  joke  to  find  on  the  big  side  door 
an  old  sign,  the  letters  half  worn  off  and  the  rest  dirty 
and  dusty,  reading: 

"  Fresh  paint  improves  your  property.  Use  Star 
Brand." 

I  was  still  handling  the  Star  Brand,  but  had  never 
bothered  about  the  sign!  I  had  the  sign  taken  down 
right  away,  and  determined  there  and  then  to  see  the 
landlord,  and  get  him  to  paint  the  outside  of  the  store. 

Barlow  was  certainly  no  fool! 


CHAPTER  XVII 

PLANNING   TO   REDUCE  STOCK 

SOON  after  my  talk  with  Barlow,  I  planned  a  big 
sale  to  reduce  my  stock.  I  was  most  anxious  to  re- 
duce it  $2,000.00  worth,  and  at  the  same  time  I 
wanted  to  see  if  I  could  not  hit  back  at  Stigler.  He 
was  keeping  up  his  price-cutting  campaign,  although  he 
had  evidently  realized  the  fact  that  I  took  my  cut 
prices  off  the  goods  as  soon  as  he  cut  his,  so  that  he 
had  begun  to  put  the  same  kind  of  goods  in  his  window 
that  I  did,  but  cut  them  about  10  or  15  per  cent,  from 
the  regular  prices. 

I  had  spoken  to  Jock  McTavish  about  this,  and  had 
suggested  that  perhaps  I  ought  to  cut  all  goods  down 
to  cost  for  a  little  while,  for  apparently  Stigler  could 
sell  at  a  15  per  cent,  reduction  and  still  make  a  profit. 

"  No,'.'  said  Jock.  "  Dinna  ye  ken  that  he  loses 
money  when  he  cuts  his  goods  that  much?  " 

"  Why,  how  can  that  be?  "  I  asked.  "  Suppose  he 
buys  something  for  $1.00,  and  the  regular  price  is 
$1.50.  He  cuts  that  15  per  cent. —  he  would  be  selling 
it  at  —  at  $1.27.  He  would  make  27^  profit !  " 

"  Ye're  wrong,"  replied  Jock.  "  The  cost  o'  the 
goods  is  no  the  bare  invoice  price,  but  the  cost  plus 
the  cost  o'  selling.  Noo,  as  ye  ken,  it  will  cost  ye 
round  aboot  30  per  cent,  on  cost  to  sell  your  goods,  so 
that  those  goods  would  cost  $1.00  plus  30^,  the  cost  o' 
selling;  and  when  he  sells  them  for  $1.27  he'll  be  losing 

3^f  on  every  sale," 

100 


Planning  to  Reduce  Stock  101 

"  But  he  could  care  for  his  overhead  on  his  regular 
stock,"  I  replied. 

"  Verra  foolish  reasoning,"  snapped  Jock,  "  for  a 
mon  to  mak'  a  part  of  his  sales  carry  the  freight  for 
aw  o'  'em !  " 

I  had  thought  about  this  afterward,  and  finally 
had  been  able  to  see  how,  if  he  cut  his  goods  15  per 
cent.,  he  couldn't  make  anything  on  the  deal. 

However,  several  people  had  been  saying  that  Stig- 
ler  had  got  me  "  on  the  run,"  so  I  decided  it  was  up 
to  me  to  have  a  whack  at  him.  Therefore,  I  planned 
what  I  called  an  "  Automatic  Sale."  I  picked  out  a 
whole  lot  of  stock,  goods  a  little  bit  damaged,  lines 
that  I  had  no  sale  for  at  all  —  I  found  a  lot  of  things 
which  the  two  previous  owners  of  the  store  bought 
and  stored  away  and  apparently  never  did  anything 
with.  I  found  about  a  gross  of  painted  rubber  balls; 
I  found  a  lot  of  juvenile  printing  outfits;  and  pad- 
locks —  I  dug  up  about  three  gross  of  padlocks,  of 
the  strangest  patterns  you  could  think  of!  I  found 
eleven  different  makes  of  safety  razors,  and  there 
were  only  two  of  them  I  had  ever  sold  any  quantity 
of.  I  planned  to  reduce  the  number  of  lines  as  much 
as  I  could  and  just  push  the  real  sellers  —  put  my 
money  into  goods  that  would  sell  quickly  and  so  in- 
crease my  turn-over. 

All  the  five-cent  articles  that  I  wanted  to  dispose 
of  in  this  sale  I  tied  in  pairs  —  two  for  ten  cents. 

I  intended  to  run  four  narrow  tables  down  the  cen- 
ter of  the  store.  The  first  one  was  to  contain  ten- 
cent  goods,  the  next  twenty-five  cent,  the  next  fifty- 
cent,  and  the  last  one  all  the  odds  and  ends  at  various 
prices. 


102      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

My  idea  was  to  run  the  sale  on  the  plan  of  auto- 
matic reduction  of  price.  I  had  got  the  idea  from  a 
magazine  which  had  said  that,  if  you  could  offer  any- 
thing to  people  which  appealed  to  the  sporting  instinct 
that  is  in  every  one  of  us,  you  would  attract  attention. 
So  I  decided  to  try  to  appeal  to  this  sporting  instinct 
by  automatically  reducing  the  goods  one  cent  in  every 
ten  cents  every  day,  until  the  goods  were  reduced  to 
nothing, —  and  then  give  away  what  was  left. 

I  had  talked  this  over  with  the  boys  at  our  Monday's 
weekly  meeting  —  which,  by  the  way,  had  been  a 
most  interesting  one  and  continued  for  over  an  hour 
instead  of  the  three-quarters  of  an  hour  we  had 
planned  —  and  they  had  been  very  enthusiastic  over  it. 
I  had  also  talked  it  over  with  Betty  and  Jock  and  Fel- 
lows. While  Jock  shook  his  head  and  said,  "  Ye're 
takkin'  a  big  risk,  mon,"  Betty  had  said,  "  Go  ahead 
and  do  it,  boy!"  Fellows  just  said,  "Bully,  you're 
going  to  be  a  real  man  before  you're  through !  " 

Larsen  seemed  to  be  getting  younger  every  day. 
When  I  came  out  of  the  store  the  day  after  I  had  an- 
nounced my  plans,  he  was  talking  over  the  idea  with 
the  other  boys  in  a  very  excited  and  enthusiastic  man- 
ner. 

The  sale  was  planned  to  start  in  two  weeks  hence, 
and,  during  those  two  weeks,  car  signs  were  displayed 
in  all  our  trolleys,  worded  like  this : 


"  A  penny  in  ten  a  day, 

Till  the  goods  are  given  away." 

DAWSON  BLACK'S  AUTOMATIC  SALE 

Begins  Thursday,  Aug.  26. 

Get  Particulars. 


Planning  to  Reduce  Stock  103 

In  addition  to  this,  Larsen  and  Wilkes  tacked  these 
signs  on  all  the  trees  and  blank  spaces  they  could  about 
the  town. 

Just  one  week  before  the  sale  started,  I  put  the  fol- 
lowing "  ad."  in  both  our  local  papers  for  three  days, 
without  any  change  of  copy: 


AUTOMATIC  — THAT'S  THE  WORD 
that  describes  the  big   sale 

DAWSON  BLACK 

is  running  from  Thursday,  Aug.   26  to  ?     You  de- 
cide when  the  sale  ceases. 

Heavy  stocks  must  be  reduced 

I  have  decided  to  sell  all  surplus  stock  automatically. 

Every  article  to  be  offered  in  this  sale  is  plainly  marked 
at  regular  price,  and  is  now  on  display  on  the  AUTO- 
MATIC SALES  COUNTERS. 

On   the   opening   day,   all   prices   will   be    reduced    one 
cent  in  every  ten  cents,  and  a  further  reduction  of  one 
cent  in  ten  will  automatically  take  place  every  day  until 
the  prices  of  the  goods  are  reduced  to  nothing. 
They  will  then  be  given  away 

See   the    special    circulars,    or    call    at 

DAWSON  BLACK'S  HARDWARE  STORE 
32  Hill  Street. 


I  ordered  from  the  printer  four  circulars  which 
were  clipped  together  with  wire.  One  sheet  talked 
about  the  ten-cent  goods,  another  about  the  twenty- 
five-cent,  another  about  the  fifty,  and  the  fourth  about 
the  mixed  table.  The  sheet  explanatory  of  the  twenty- 
five  cent  goods  was  as  follows :  — 


104      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 


DAWSON  BLACK'S  BIG  AUTOMATIC  SALE 
32  Hill  St 

Two  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods  to  be  sold  at 
your  own  price.  All  you  have  to  do  is  wait  until  the 
goods  are  reduced  to  your  price,  and  then  —  buy  them  — 
if  there  are  any  left. 

A   PENNY  IN   EVERY  DIME  TAKEN  OFF 
EVERY  DAY 

Every  article  on  each  counter  is  plainly  marked  at  regu- 
lar prices  and  can  be  seen  now. 

Sale  begins  Thursday,  Aug.  26,  and  the  first  reduction 
will  be  made  that  day  —  and  a  further  similar  reduction 
will  be  made  every  day  thereafter  until  the  goods  are  sold 
or  until  the  prices  are  reduced  to  nothing,  when  they  will 
be  given  away. 

The  following  is  an  illustration  of  how  the  articles 
listed  on  the  reverse  side  of  this  sheet  will  be  reduced,  as 
well  as  scores  of  other  25-cent  articles  not  listed  here: 

REGULAR  PRICE. . .  .25*     .  .Regular   price 

Thursday,   Aug.   26 22^    .  .2^   saved 

Friday,    Aug.    27 2o£     ..Put     a     nickel     in     your 

pocket 

Saturday,  Aug.  28 17itf    ..Saves   you   7$t 

Monday,    Aug.    30 15^     ..And     two     trolley     rides 

free 

Tuesday,    Aug.   31 12!^    .  .Half  price  —  if  any  left 

Wednesday,    Sept.    l...io^      ..But   why   talk   of    saving 

if   there   are   none   left 

Thursday,   Sept.  2 7%4    ..Saves  17%$ —  but  too  late 

Friday,  Sept.  3 5?  ..Would  save  2otf  if  oth- 
ers had  not  cleaned  them 
out 

Saturday,  Sept.  4 2j#  ..But  why  talk  about  sav- 
ing 

Tuesday,   Sept.   7 FREE    ..Help  yourself  to  what  is 

left 

(See  other  side) 


Planning  to  Reduce  Stock  105 

On  the  reverse  side  was  the  following  list :  — 


DAWSON  BLACK'S  BIG  AUTOMATIC  SALE 
SOME  OFFERINGS  ON  THE  25*  TABLE 

Large  size  whisk  brooms 

Handy   household    saws 

Steel  garden  hand  forks  and  trowels 

Heavy  enameled  saucepans 

Bristle-tight  paint  brushes 

Warranted  pocketknives 

Reliable  padlocks 

Double-well  dust-proof  ink  stands 

Bronze  watch  fobs 

A  large  assortment  of  window  shades 

Juvenile  sets  of  knife,  fork  and  spoon 

Fine  quality  scissors  — all  sizes 

Enameled  sink  baskets 

Steel  frying  pans 

"  Scour-clean  "  soap  for  cleaning  greasy  pans 

Pocket  manicure  sets 

Wire  clothes  lines 

Boys'  printing  outfits  —  rubber  type 

Screw-drivers  —  hatchets  —  hammers  —  plyers 

"  Clix  "  patent  shoe  shining  sets 

Many  styles  in  window  fasteners 

Enamel  —  varnish  paint 

Insect  powder 

Bicycle  pumps  —  bells  —  tools 

Corkscrews  —  razor  strops 

AND  HOSTS  OF  OTHER  GOODS. 


Over  each  table  I  had  a  big  card,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  sample :  — 


106      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 


EVERYTHING  ON  THIS  COUNTER  IS 
A  REGULAR  50*  ARTICLE 

Look  them  over  —  Buy  while  you  can ! 


REGULAR    PRICE....  50* 

Thursday,  Aug.  26  ......  45^ 

Friday,  Aug.  27  ........  40^ 

Saturday,  Aug.  28  ......  35^ 

Monday,    Aug.    30  ......  30^ 

Tuesday,    Aug.   31  ......  25^ 

Wednesday,    Sept    I....  2otf 

Thursday,   Sept  2  ......  15^ 


Friday,  Sept.  3 
Saturday,  Sept  4 


Tuesday,  Sept.  7.  ...FREE 


. .  Regular  price 

.  .A  nickel  saved 

.  .A  dime  in  your  pocket 

..Saves  the  price  of  three 

sodas 

..Saves   four   trolley   fares 
.  .Half  price  —  any  left  ? 
..Makes   your   saving   look 

like  30^ 
..And   35^   to   the   good  — 

IF 

. . Saves  40^ 
..Ten  for  the  price  of  one 

—  but    you    missed    your 

chance 
.  .Help  yourself  to  what  is 

left 


Jock  had  said :  "  Mon,  they'll  all  wait  till  the  last 
day  and  then  come  and  steal  the  goods  awa'  f  rae  ye !  " 

"  No,"  Betty  had  replied,  "  many  will  buy,  before 
the  goods  are  reduced  much,  for  fear  somebody  else 
will  buy  them  first." 

Larsen  suggested  having  a  big  sign  in  the  window 
headed : 

"WATCH  THIS  LIST.  ARTICLES  SOLD 
OUT  WILL  BE  POSTED  ON  IT." 

"  You  see,  Boss,"  he  had  said,  "  the  folks'll  see  a 
number  of  things  put  on  the  list.  They'll  figure  they'd 
better  not  wait  else  what  they  want  will  be  sold." 


Planning  to  Reduce  Stock  107 

Fellows  chimed  in  with,  "  Tell  you  what  to  do, 
Black.  Put  in  just  two  or  three  of  some  articles,  so 
that  by  the  end  of  the  first  day  you'll  be  able  to  post  up 
some  goods  that  are  sold  out." 

Jock  had  a  further  suggestion,  "  Ye've  got  an  un- 
usual plan  there,  laddie;  why  don't  ye  tell  the  news- 
papers aboot  it.  Maybe  they'll  give  ye  a  stor-ry  in 
reference  to  it." 

"  That's  a  good  idea,"  I  had  replied,  "  I'll  try  it." 

"  Don't  ye  think,"  he  continued,  "  that  it  would  pay 
ye  tae  put  a  list  in  the  papers  each  day  o'  the  goods 
that  are  sold,  and  call  it  '  Too  late  to  buy  the  follow- 
ing at  Dawson  Black's  Automatic  Sales  —  Some  one 
else  got  ahead  o'  ye'/  or-r  something  like  that?  " 

I  decided  to  adopt  that  plan  and  that  I  would  call  on 
the  newspaper  people  to  see  if  I  could  not  get  a  write- 
up  on  the  sale  from  them. 

I  really  was  getting  anxious  for  the  sale  to  start  so 
that  I  could  see  how  it  would  come  off.  I  felt  that 
I  was  taking  a  big  risk,  since,  if  it  failed,  I  would  lose 
a  few  hundred  dollars.  But,  even  then,  I  would  turn 
some  dead  stock  into  cash,  and  I  remembered  that,  at 
the  trade  convention,  one  fellow  had  said  a  dollar  in 
the  till  was  worth  two  dollars  of  unsalable  goods  on 
the  shelves,  "  for,"  said  he,  "  if  you  turn  that  two 
dollars'  worth  of  goods  into  a  dollar  cash  and  you  turn 
that  dollar  over  three  and  a  half  times  in  a  year,  you 
are  going  to  earn  a  profit  on  three  and  a  half  dollars' 
worth  of  live  stuff  instead  of  the  questionable  profit 
on  two  dollars'  worth  of  dead  stuff !  " 

I  guess  we  are  all  gamblers  at  heart,  for  every  one, 
even  the  Mater,  had  become  interested  and  excited 
over  my  first  attempt  at  a  big  sale. 


108      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

I  hadn't  quite  decided  whether  to  send  the  circulars 
by  mail,  or  to  have  them  delivered  to  every  home  in 
town  by  messenger;  but  was  inclined  to  adopt  the 
latter  plan. 

Fellows  suggested,  "  Why  don't  you  get  some  pretty 
girls  to  go  around  and  deliver  them?  They  would 
make  a  hit !  " 

"  Do  you  think  so?  "  flashed  back  Betty.  "  That's 
just  where  you're  mistaken,  Mr.  Smarty  —  if  you 
think  a  woman  is  going  to  be  tickled  to  have  a  pretty 
girl  come  up  to  the  door:  send  a  homely  one  and  it 
might  work !  " 

Aren't  women  queer? 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   GREAT    SALE 

I  WOULD  like  to  be  able  to  say  that  there  were  big 
sales  on  the  first  day  of  the  automatic  sale.  All  the 
goods  on  those  four  sales'  counters  had  been  reduced 
one  cent  in  ten  —  ten-cent  articles  to  nine  cents,  and 
so  on  —  but,  on  the  first  day,  we  took  in  only  $36.00 
from  those  counters! 

I  found  that  the  invoice  cost  of  all  the  goods  which 
I  had  put  on  in  the  sale  was  $1,364.00.  If  I  could 
only  get  that  amount  in  cash  out  of  them,  I  would  be 
more  than  satisfied,  for  I  would  have  turned  into 
money  a  lot  of  stock  which  was  old,  damaged  or  such 
slow  sellers  as  not  to  be  worth  keeping.  With  the 
money  1  could  buy  goods  that  would  sell  quickly  and 
thus  increase  my  rate  of  turn-over. 

But  only  $36.00  worth  sold  the  first  day!  And  the 
sale  of  other  goods  had  been  unusually  slow,  also.  In 
fact,  it  was  the  worst  day  I  had  had  since  I  bought 
the  store. 

Not  very  promising  for  the  beginning  of  a  sale,  was 
it?  But  Betty,  bless  her  heart,  said,  "  Wait  until  Mon- 
day or  Tuesday  and  you'll  find  things  will  go  along  all 
right.  The  prices  are  not  yet  reduced  enough  to  make 
people  eager  to  buy." 

Although  the  goods  on  the  bargain  counters  had 
been  reduced  20  per  cent.,  only  $47.00  worth  went  the 

next  day! 

109 


110      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

Larsen  shook  his  head  and  said,  "  It  may  come  out 
all  right."  He  was  a  regular  Job's  comforter ! 

That  night,  I  said  to  Betty,  "  Perhaps  it  would  be 
wise  to  call  the  sale  off,  and  put  some  of  the  goods 
back  into  stock  again." 

She  replied :  "  Whatever  you  do,  don't  call  the  sale 
off!  If  there  are  any  lines  that  are  really  good,  you 
might  quietly  put  some  of  them  back,  but  don't  call 
the  sale  off!  It  would  hurt  you  too  much.  By  the 
way,"  she  added,  "  I  wonder  what  Stigler's  window 
is  covered  up  for  to-day?" 

I  had  noticed  that  as  I  came  home.  He  had  pulled 
the  shades  down  in  his  window,  and,  although  it  was 
8:30  when  I  passed  the  store,  the  lights  were  still 
burning  inside.  I  had  an  uncomfortable  feeling  that 
he  was  going  to  do  something  to  me. 

I  wondered  if  he  was  going  after  me  on  prices  even 
worse  than  before!  I  did  not  sleep  very  well  that 
night.  It's  easy  to  say  "  what's  the  use  of  losing  sleep 
over  a  thing,"  but,  when  a  man  finds  the  bottom 
knocked  out  of  his  business  because  of  competition, 
plans  a  big  sale  and  it  starts  off  as  a  hopeless  fizzle, 
after  an  outlay  of  over  a  hundred  dollars  for  adver- 
tising, he  can't  help  but  worry!  The  man  isn't  born 
that  can  find  things  slipping  away  as  I  had  and  not 
worry  over  it! 

Betty  was  a  real  comfort.  She  said :  —  "  Don't  you 
see,  boy  dear,  that's  just  what  you  need,  a  lot  of 
trouble?" 

"  Huh,"  I  replied,  "  I'm  certainly  getting  what  I 
need,  good  and  plenty !  " 

She  smiled,  and  replied,  "  That's  right,  keep  your 
sense  of  humor.  One  of  my  teachers  once  said  that 


The  Great  Sale  111 

a  sense  of  humor  is  a  safety  valve  which  prevents  us 
blowing  up  from  the  pressure  of  too  much  trouble. 
You're  going  to  pull  through  this  all  right,  and  you'll 
be  a  better  and  a  bigger  man  for  the  experience !  " 

What  would  I  have  done  without  her!  I  wonder, 
if  the  big  business  men  of  the  country  were  to  tell  the 
truth,  how  much  of  their  success  they  would  owe  to 
some  quiet  little  woman  who  gave  them  the  right  kind 
of  encouragement  and  admonition?  Whatever  suc- 
cess I  may  have  had  I'll  be  frank  enough  to  admit 
that  I  would  not  have  succeeded  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
Betty. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  Sale,  we  kept  the  store  open 
till  1 1  o'clock,  and  it  was  midnight  before  I  left. 

When  I  had  passed  Stigler's  that  morning  I  had 
found  his  windows  piled  high  with  kitchen  goods,  on 
which  were  labels  with  the  regular  retail  price.  I  had 
stood  at  the  window  and  looked  at  the  different  prices 
to  be  sure  that  they  were  genuine,  and,  surely  enough, 
the  prices  were  regular.  But  then  I  noticed  a  big  sign, 
hung  from  above,  which  read : 


STIGLER'S  SATURDAY  SPECIAL 

For  one  day  only,  every  article  in  this  window  will  be 
offered  at  25  per  cent  off  regular  price.  These  goods 
are  offered  for  sale,  and  will  really  be  sold.  We  are 
not  offering  to  give  goods  away  that  won't  be  there ! 


I  was  doing  some  pretty  quick  thinking  while  I  was 
standing  there,  for,  while  only  about  half  the  goods  in 
my  sale  were  kitchen  utensils,  I  certainly  had  made  a 
big  push  on  those  goods. 


112       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

At  that  moment  Stigler  came  along  from  behind  me, 
walked  right  up  to  me,  and  said : 

"Howdy?" 

"  How  are  you,  Stigler?  "  I  returned. 

"  Fine!  "  he  said.  "  Enjoying  the  weather!  How 
do  you  like  my  little  window,  eh?  I'm  glad  to  see  yer 
take  an  interest  in  what  we  are  doing!  Of  course,  if 
you  ain't  satisfied  with  what  you  see  there,  come  right 
along  inside  and  I'll  show  yer  me  books !  " 

"I  was  just  passing  your  store,  Stigler,  and,  natu- 
rally, I  looked  in  your  window." 

"  Sure  —  sure,"  he  said,  nodding  his  head  sarcasti- 
cally, "  you  fellers  have  a  habit  of  passing  the  store 
pretty  often,  don't  yer?  Quite  a  clever  stunt  you  are 
putting  up  there,  with  that  automatic  give-away-nothin' 
idea.  Kinder  thought  I'd  start  in  the  cutting  line  my- 
self a  bit.  How  d'ye  like  it?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  I  have  ever  done  to  you  that  you 
should  make  such  a  dead  set  on  me." 

"N-no?"  he  returned  with  a  drawl.  "Well,  I'll 
just  tell  yer,  young  feller.  I've  just  kinder  got  a  fancy 
to  get  some  more  business,  and  as  some  of  the  trade 
seems  to  be  floatin'  around  kind  o'  easy  like,  I  thought 
I'd  just  nail  it  down.  And  if  by  any  chance  some  dear 
competitor  " —  and  his  lips  curled  in  derision  as  he  said 
this  — "  happens  to  get  in  the  way,  well !  —  I  can  kinder 
be  sorry  for  him  like,  and  perhaps  give  him  a  job  some- 
time if  he  wants  one." 

Then  I  had  lost  my  temper. 

"  You're  a  four-flushing  cur,  and  just  as  sure  as  my 
name  is  Black,  I'll  give  you  a  run  for  your  money!  If 
you  think  you  can  scare  me,  you're  mistaken !  And  if 
you  want  a  fight,  by  George,  I'll  give  it  to  you !  " 


The  Great  Sale  113 

Stigler  leaned  against  the  corner  of  his  window  and 
said: 

"  My,  somebody's  been  feedin'  yer  meat,  ain't  they?  " 
and  then  he  turned  and  walked  into  his  store. 

The  first  thing  I  did  when  I  got  to  the  store  was  to 
tell  Larsen  I  wanted  to  put  a  dollar  in  the  "  swear  box," 
and  then  I  told  him  the  incident.  He  shook  his  head 
thoughtfully,  and  said: 

"  Too  bad,  Boss,  too  bad." 

I  wished  that  I  had  kept  control  over  my  tongue !  I 
felt  that  Stigler  had  had  the  best  of  the  scrap  that 
morning.  I  felt  that  he  had  put  it  all  over  me.  I  had 
felt  like  a  scolded  boy,  and  I  had  probably  looked  like 
one  as  I  marched  away  from  his  store  with  my  ears  and 
face  burning,  a-tremble  in  my  limbs. 

Larsen  had  quickly  written  a  sign  which  said,  "  30 
per  cent,  reduction  to-day  on  all  goods  offered  in  our 
automatic  sale !  "  Then  he  asked  me  if  I  could  manage 
to  spare  him  for  a  couple  of  hours. 

"What  for?"  I  asked. 

"  I  tell  you,  Boss,"  he  said.  "  We  got  a  lot  of  good 
carpenter  tools  in  the  sale.  I  want  to  go  to  every  car- 
penter in  town  and  tell  'em  what  we  got.  Stigler  tries 
to  get  sales  in  carpenters'  tools.  He  got  a  mad  at  you 
because  you  put  in  more  stock.  I'll  tell  'em  they  can 
buy  carpenters'  tools  for  30  per  cent,  less  regular  price. 
That'll  hit  Stigler  where  he  lives !  " 

I  caught  a  bit  of  Larsen's  enthusiasm.  Isn't  it 
remarkable  how  a  man  over  fifty  like  Larsen  could 
have  the  energy  and  enthusiasm  he  showed?  I  really 
thought  he  was  getting  younger  every  day,  while  I  was 
getting  older ! 


114      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

When  he  came  back  to  the  store,  about  1 1 130  he 
was  smiling. 

"  How  did  you  make  out  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Fine !  I  got  over  $60.00  of  orders.  I  promise  to 
put  the  tools  one  side.  The  folks'll  call  later  in  day. 
Some  that  didn't  order  said  they  goin'  to  come  in." 

"  That's  great !  "  I  exclaimed,  and  my  spirits  imme- 
diately rose. 

"  Any  business  this  morning?  "  Larsen  asked. 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  four  lines  sold  out." 

"Kitchen  goods?" 

"  Yes,  all  of  them.  You  know  that  cheap  line  of 
enameled  frying  pans?  " 

"  Yep." 

"  Well,  a  woman  came  in  and  bought  twelve  of 
them!" 

"Twelve?" 

"  Yep.  And  then  another  one  came  in  and  bought 
six !  They've  been  selling  in  bunches,"  and  I  chuckled. 
"  What  are  you  looking  so  glum  at?  "  I  asked  him  sud- 
denly. 

"  We  got  a  hole  in  our  plan,"  he  returned.  "  We 
oughta  say  no  person  buy  more  than  one  of  anything. 
I  bet  them  frying  pans  in  Stigler's  now.  They  was 
good  at  the  price.  He  couldn't  buy  'em  wholesale  to- 
day for  it.  I  bet  he  sell  'em  off  to-day,  and  we  got 
none.  He  got  one  of  our  big  cards  and  plays  it  him- 
self." 

"  I've  got  the  list  of  goods  sold  out  ready  to  put 
in  the  window,"  I  said,  and  passed  him  over  a  card  on 
which  I  had  listed  the  goods  which  were  all  gone. 

"  I  think,"  he  said,  "  we  better  put  some  more  fry- 
ing pans  in  the  sale  and  not  say  we  sold  out." 


The  Great  Sale  115 

"  That's  a  good  idea,"  I  returned ;  and  we  put  a  half 
dozen  more  of  our  regular  stock  on  the  5o-cent  coun- 
ter. Then  we  agreed  to  be  cautious  about  selling  any 
more  articles  in  "  bunches." 

To  my  surprise,  our  sales  for  that  third  day  on  the 
"automatic"  goods  were  $421.00,  so  the  first  three 
days  of  our  sale  netted  $504.00.  That  sounded  en- 
couraging. 

If  I  could  get  another  $860.00  for  the  balance  of 
the  sale,  I  would  not  have  done  so  badly.  I  decided 
that  I  had  planned  right  in  having  the  third  day  sale 
come  on  Saturday,  for  that  was  always  a  big  day  with 
us.  The  reduction  had  been  a  substantial  one,  and  yet 
everything  that  was  sold  had  been  sold  for  more  than 
the  invoice  price. 

Our  tool  sale  had  been  unusually  large ;  Larsen's  trip 
to  the  carpenters  had  helped  that  out  a  lot. 

After  the  store  was  closed  we  made  a  list  of  the 
articles  which  were  sold  out  and  posted  them  in  the 
window  so  that  they  would  be  seen  the  next  day.  Over 
sixty  different  lines  were  sold  out,  and  the  list  was 
quite  a  formidable  one. 

Then  we  drew  another  big  sign,  which  we  placed  in 
the  window,  saying: 


At  eight  o'clock  Monday  this  store  will  be  opened,  and 
the  few  remaining  goods  in  our  automatic  sale  may  be 
bought  at  4^  in  ten  discount,  or  40  per  cent  reduction  from 
regular  price.  As  the  sale  has  been  a  phenomenal  suc- 
cess, we  anticipate  clearing  out  the  balance  of  the  goods 
on  Monday.  Early  comers  will  secure  the  best  bargains. 


Stigler  springing  that  25  per  cent,  reduction  sale  on 


116      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

kitchen  goods  had  unfortunately  spoilt  a  lot  of  busi- 
ness which  I  felt  sure  we  would  have  had  otherwise. 
We  had  overcome  some  of  the  loss,  however,  by  the 
extra  push  we  had  made  on  carpenters'  tools. 

When  I  told  Betty  about  it  after  getting  home,  she 
said  : 

"  Well,  Stigler  didn't  waste  any  time  getting  after 
you,  did  he?  " 

"  No,"  I  said  with  a  grin. 

"  And  do  you  know  that  he  says  now  that  your  sale 
has  proved  a  fizzle  and  that  practically  all  your  goods 
have  been  put  back  in  stock  again?  .  .  .  Quiet," 
she  said,  putting  her  hand  on  my  shoulder,  for  I  was 
about  to  explode  with  temper.  "  I  suppose  no  man 
can  be  successful  without  having  a  lot  of  people  throw 
mud  at  him." 

That  evening  I  was  so  tired  that  I  fell  asleep  in  my 
chair.  Betty  woke  me  up  by  putting  her  arm  around 
my  neck,  and  saying: 

"  You  had  better  go  along  to  bed  now,  boy  dear. 
Here,  drink  this  —  it  will  make  you  rest  better  " — 
and  I  drank  a  glass  of  hot  milk  she  had  prepared  for 
me,  and  went  to  bed. 

On  Monday  we  had  a  wonderful  clearance.  Most 
of  the  goods  were  sold,  and  our  total  for  the  four  days' 
sale  was  $1,090.00! 

The  boys  were  all  dead  tired.  I  had  sent  Wilkes 
about  7  o'clock  to  get  some  hot  coffee  and  sandwiches 
for  us,  for  we  had  a  continuous  crowd  of  customers 
in  the  store  and  not  one  of  the  store  crowd  would  think 
of  leaving.  We  took  drinks  of  coffee  and  bites  of 
sandwiches  in  between  serving  customers,  and  the 
coffee  was  all  cold  before  we  got  through  with  it! 


The  Great  Sale  117 

You  will  remember  my  telling  that  I  had  discharged 
Myricks  and  that  he  had  gone  to  work  for  Stigler. 
Well,  Stigler  had  fired  him  after  a  couple  of  weeks, 
saying  that  he  had  found  out  all  he  knew  and  had  no 
further  use  for  him.  Myricks  had  been  looking  for  a 
job  ever  since,  and,  as  I  knew  I  would  have  to  have 
some  extra  help  for  the  sale,  I  put  him  on  again.  In 
fact,  I  had  told  him  that,  if  he  behaved  himself  I  might 
be  able  to  use  him  for  the  winter,  for  it  had  been  tre- 
mendously hard  work  for  our  little  force  to  take  care 
of  the  business,  and  I  had  felt  that  if  we  had  another 
clerk  it  would  relieve  me  to  do  some  more  planning, 
and  might  also  allow  Jones  or  Larsen  to  do  some 
soliciting  for  business;  for  I  hadn't  forgotten  what 
that  pencil  sharpener  man  had  told  me,  and  had  de- 
cided that,  after  the  sale  I  would  go. 

Well,  Myricks  had  started  on  Thursday  morning, 
and  had  seemed  to  be  working  well.  I  had  noticed, 
however,  on  the  following  Monday,  that  he  didn't  ring 
up  one  of  his  sales.  He  had  sold  over  $6.00  worth  of 
goods  and  I  had  seen  him  put  the  money  in  his  pocket 
and  go  after  another  customer. 

I  called  him  to  one  side,  later  in  the  day,  and  said : 
"  Myricks,  why  didn't  you  ring  up  that  sale  ?  " 
He  went  red,  and  then  white,  and  said : 
"  Er  —  er  —  you   see  —  I'll   tell   you  —  that   other 
customer  was  impatient  and  I  wanted  to  get  to  him 
quickly  and  I  thought  it  would  save  time  and  I  could 
ring  it  up  later." 

"  Don't  do  it !  "  I  replied  sharply.  "  Ring  up  every 
sale  as  you  make  it !  " 

We  were  too  busy  to  dispense  with  him  then,  but  I 
wondered  —  I  wondered  — 


118      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

When  we  closed  the  store  Tuesday  no  more  goods 
were  left !  The  sales  that  day  had  been  $427.00. 

Of  course  when  I  say  there  were  no  more  goods  left, 
I  mean  there  were  perhaps  thirty  or  forty  odd  items 
left,  but  I  was  certain  that  they  would  be  all  sold  out 
the  next  day. 

The  total  for  the  sale  had  been  $1,517.00.  My  ad- 
vertising had  cost  me  $127.00,  so  that  my  net  cash 
from  the  sale  was  $1,390.00.  That  showed  me  a  cash 
profit  of  $24.00.  But,  gee  whiz!  —  didn't  that  bank 
account  look  good ! 

I  planned  to  take  up  that  note  of  $1,000.00  at  the 
bank,  right  away.  It  would  seem  good  to  get  rid  of 
that.  And  I  was  going  to  Harrington  and  pay  $250.00 
on  that  $1,250.00  loan  for  which  he  had  taken  a  mort- 
gage on  my  farm. 

Gosh,  it  did  seem  good  to  have  some  money,  al- 
though after  I  had  taken  $1,250.00  from  $1,390.00, 
there  wouldn't  be  much  real  cash  left.  Still,  I  hadn't 
been  buying  much,  and  my  bills  were  unusually  small 
that  month. 

When  I  got  home  I  rushed  into  the  house,  took  hold 
of  Betty  and  swung  her  around  several  times,  and  sang 
my  little  song — "  Half-price  day  is  over  and  no  more 
goods  are  left!  "  We  behaved  like  a  couple  of  kids. 

She  thought  I  would  be  making  a  mistake  to  pay 
off  that  thousand  dollars  at  the  bank.  She  thought  I 
ought  to  leave  $500.00  of  it,  for  she  said  I  wouldn't 
have  enough  money  to  pay  my  month's  bills  and  would 
have  to  borrow  again. 

"Well,  they'll  let  me  do  it,  if  necessary,"  I  said; 
"  and  besides,  I'm  not  paying  interest  on  what  I  am  not 
borrowing." 


The  Great  Sale  119 

"  Perhaps  you're  right,"  she  said  with  a  laugh,  "  and 
now  come  and  get  your  dinner." 

Dinner,  at  10:30  at  night!  However,  what's  meal 
time  when  you're  busy  ?  How  I  pitied  those  poor  fel- 
lows who  don't  get  heart  and  soul  into  their  work. 
Time  surely  does  fly  when  you  do !  What  a  shirker  I 
had  been  when  I  had  worked  for  Barlow!  The  days 
had  seemed  long  then. 

I  gave  all  my  fellows  a  special  bonus  that  week 
for  the  work  they  had  done.  I  gave  Larsen  $10.00, 
Jones  $6.00  and  Wilkes  $3.00  —  that  is,  an  extra  half 
week's  pay. 

Myricks  had  gone.  In  spite  of  being  busy  I  had 
gotten  rid  of  him  that  Tuesday.  I  had  caught  him 
again  putting  money  in  his  pocket,  and  Mr.  Pinkham, 
who  bought  a  saw,  also  told  me  that  he  had  noticed 
Myricks  didn't  ring  up  the  money. 

I  had  kept  my  eye  on  Myricks,  and  then,  when  there 
was  a  little  lull  in  trade,  I  had  called  him  into  my  little 
office  and  ordered  him  to  turn  out  his  pockets. 

"What's  that  for?"  he  asked  impudently. 

"  I  want  to  see  how  much  money  you  have  got 
there,"  I  said. 

"  I  don't  see  that  it's  anybody's  business  what  money 
I  have  got  in  my  pockets,"  he  replied. 

"  Well,  it  has  something  to  do  with  me,"  I  returned 
sternly,  "  for  you  told  me  yesterday  you  were  carrying 
my  money  in  your  pockets.  Now,  I  insist  on  knowing 
what  you  have  got  in  your  pockets." 

"  All  I've  got  is  money  of  my  own,  and  I  don't  see 
that  it's  any  of  your  business!  " 

"  You  are  going  to  turn  out  your  pockets  before  you 
leave  this  office,"  I  said  angrily.  My  voice  was  raised 


120      Dawson  Slack:  Retail  Merchant 

and  the  others  in  the  store  were  gazing  in  our  direction. 
"  If  not,  I'll  call  a  policeman." 

"  Call  him  in  and  be  damned,"  he  said,  and  he  struck 
at  me. 

I  lost  my  temper,  and  for  once  I  was  glad  of  it,  for 
I  landed  on  him  and  hit  him  fair  and  square  under  the 
jaw.  He  fell  against  the  desk,  upsetting  a  vase  full  of 
flowers  that  Betty  had  put  there.  He  got  up,  holding 
his  head,  and  blood  was  trickling  from  a  cut  in  his 
cheek  where  he  had  caught  the  edge  of  the  desk. 

I  was  so  raging  mad  that  I  was  prepared  for  almost 
anything. 

"  Now,  damn  you !  "  I  said  with  a  snarl,  "  turn  out 
your  pockets  quick! " 

He  did  so,  and  I  found  $37.00  there. 

"  It's  my  money,"  he  said  surlily.  "  It's  my  money! 
You  touch  that  money  and  I'll  have  the  law  on  you !  " 

I  picked  up  the  money,  put  it  in  my  pocket,  and 
said: 

"  Now,  I'll  give  you  just  five  minutes  to  get  clear  out 
of  my  sight!  Before  you  go,  let  me  tell  you  that  cus- 
tomers have  seen  you  putting  money  in  your  pocket, 
and  I  have  seen  you  also.  Just  let  me  have  one  peep 
from  you,  now  or  any  other  time,  and  I'll  have  you  in 
jail !  Now,  beat  it !  " 

I  opened  the  door  and  he  slunk  out. 

"  I'll  get  you  yet,"  he  growled  as  he  left. 

I  had  lost  my  temper,  I  knew  I  had;  but  I  was 
mighty  glad  I  had;  for  I  felt  if  I  hadn't  I  wouldn't 
have  given  him  the  lesson  he  deserved.  And  incident- 
ally, I  had  learned  another  lesson,  and  that  is,  never 
rehire  a  discharged  employee.  Then  and  there  I  de- 
termined that,  so  long  as  I  was  in  business,  if  an  em- 


v 


"  I    WAS    SO    RAGING    MAD    THAT    I    WAS    PREPARED    FOR 
ALMOST  ANYTHING  " 


The  Great  Sale  121 

ployee  ever  left  me  for  any  reason  whatever,  I  would 
never  reinstate  him.  He  would  be  through  forever. 

When  I  got  home  that  night,  Betty  remarked : 

"  Why,  look  at  the  knuckles  on  your  hand !  They 
have  blood  on  them !  What  have  you  done  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  just  knocked  into  the  cash  register  $37.00 
which  was  walking  out  of  the  door,"  I  returned  jaunt- 
ily. And  then  I  told  her  the  whole  story. 

She  came  over  and  kissed  me  and  said : 

"  Good  boy !  "  and  her  eyes  flashed  as  she  said  it. 
"  I'm  proud  of  you!  " 

Those  four  words  meant  more  to  me  than  the  suc- 
cess of  this  sale. 

Betty  and  I  went  to  Boston  the  next  day.  I  wanted 
to  call  at  Bates  &  Hotchkin's  to  buy  a  few  things  I 
needed,  and  also  I  wanted  to  call  on  Mr.  Barker,  to 
whom  Mr.  Sirle  had  given  me  a  card  of  introduction 
some  time  ago.  I  intended  that  we  should  have  a  nice 
little  dinner,  and  take  in  a  show  and  stay  at  a  good 
hotel  for  the  night  and  come  back  the  next  day.  All 
by  way  of  celebration. 

"  You  are  an  extravagant  man,"  said  Betty  severely 
when  I  told  her  this.  "  What  train  do  we  leave  by  ? 
I'll  be  ready." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A    TRIP    TO    BOSTON 

WE  had  a  great  time  in  Boston.  In  the  evening  we 
went  to  see  "  Pollyanna  "  and  I  told  Betty  I  had  fallen 
in  love  with  Patricia  Collinge. 

"  I'll  get  jealous,"  she  said,  and  squeezed  my  arm. 

When  we  reached  the  city  I  called  on  Bates  &  Hotch- 
kin,  ordered  some  goods,  and  told  them  about  the  sale. 
I  had  a  talk  with  Mr.  Peck,  the  credit  man  who  called 
on  me  the  time  I  had  had  trouble  paying  my  bills. 

"  That  was  fine,"  he  said,  "  but  pretty  risky  work  — 
pretty  risky  work.  You  succeeded  with  it  all  right  this 
time,  but  next  time  I  wouldn't  risk  so  much  on  one 
sale. 

"  By  the  way,"  he  asked,  "  how  much  did  you  sell 
during  the  period  of  the  sale,  other  than  the  reduced- 
price  goods,  or  does  that  $1,517.00  include  the  sale  of 
regular  goods  as  well?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  I  replied.  "  That  represents  the  money 
we  took  in  from  the  goods  which  were  reduced.  I 
haven't  figured  yet  what  the  sales  for  general  goods 
were  the  first  three  days  of  this  week,  but  I  know  that 
last  week  we  sold  $824.00  worth  of  goods,  so  that  we 
had  a  sale  on  general  goods  of  $320.00.  Our  sale 
really  helped  rather  than  hindered  our  general  turnr 
over." 

"  Splendid,"  he  said.  "  To  what  do  you  attribute 
mostly  the  success  of  the  sale  ?  " 

122 


A  Trip  to  Boston  123 

"  Well,  I  don't  know.  But  I  do  know  that  the  en- 
thusiasm of  my  fellows  helped  a  lot,  and  the  help  I  got 
from  Fellows  of  the  Flaxon  Advertising  Company. 
In  fact,  I  think  everybody  had  something  to  do  with  it. 
I  know  Mrs.  Black  did,"  turning  around  to  Betty. 

"  I  usually  find,"  said  Mr.  Peck,  "  that,  whether  it's 
success  or  failure,  there's  a  woman  at  the  bottom 
of  it." 

The  next  morning  I  went  to  see  Mr.  Barker  and  pre- 
sented the  card  which  Mr.  Sirle  had  given  me.  Barker 
had  a  fine,  big  store  on  Summit  Street.  I  rather  ex- 
pected to  get  just  an  ordinary,  formal  reception,  for  I 
figured  that  he  must  be  a  very  busy  man.  To  my  sur- 
prise, he  gave  me  a  lot  of  time.  He  was  a  most  inter- 
esting man.  I  apologized  for  taking  up  his  time, 
saying : 

"  I  mustn't  keep  you,  Mr.  Barker,  for  you  are  such 
a  busy  man  and  have  a  lot  of  things  to  attend  to." 

"  Oh,  no,  indeed,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said.  "  I  always 
figure  that  the  head  of  a  business  should  always  have 
plenty  of  time  on  his  hands.  I  arrange  my  work  so 
that  I  can  go  any  time  I  wish  to  have  a  round  at  the 
links.  I  believe  one  of  the  earmarks  of  a  true  execu- 
tive is  his  ability  to  slam  down  the  lid  of  his  desk  — 
that  is,  assuming  he  is  so  old-fashioned  as  to  have  a 
roll-top  desk  —  beastly  things,  they  are.  I  think  a 
roll-top  desk  is  an  invention  of  the  devil  to  induce  lazy 
people  to  shove  work  into  pigeon  holes  instead  of  doing 
it!  Roll-top  desks  are  one  of  my  pet  aversions.  As 
I  was  saying,  I  think  one  of  the  earmarks  of  a  real 
executive  is  his  ability  to  leave  his  business  at  any  time 
and  know  that  it  will  run  safely.  An  executive  must 
reduce  work  to  routine  as  much  as  possible.  He  must 


124       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

do  the  thinking  and  let  others  do  the  doing.  It  is  easy 
enough  to  get  people  to  do  things  when  you  tell  them 
what  to  do.  I  remember,"  he  said,  reminiscently, 
"  hearing  a  speaker  once  say  that  the  value  of  a  man, 
from  his  neck  down,  was  limited  to  $2.50  a  day,  but, 
from  his  neck  up,  there  was  no  limit  to  his  value. 
Now,  an  executive  uses  his  body  from  his  neck  up,  to 
plan  work  for  other  fellows  to  do  with  their  bodies  be- 
low the  neck." 

"  But,  of  course,"  I  said,  "  you've  a  big  business 
here.  You  can  hire  plenty  of  fellows  to  do  all  you 
want." 

"  True,"  he  said,  "  but  remember,  it  was  not  always 
a  big  business ;  and,  however  small  your  business  may 
be,  you  can  plan  to  let  others  do  the  less  important 
work,  and  keep  the  more  important  work  for  yourself. 
Of  course,  the  most  important  job  any  retailer  has  is  to 
buy  right,  and  to  plan  his  sales  policies  and  methods 
and  advertising." 

Mr.  Barker's  desk  was  on  a  kind  of  mezzanine  floor, 
from  which  he  could  look  all  over  the  store,  and  while 
he  was  talking  I  noticed  that  his  eyes  constantly  roved 
over  it. 

At  one  time  he  suddenly  broke  off  in  the  middle  of  a 
sentence  and  pressed  a  button  on  his  desk.  A  stenog- 
rapher appeared  and  he  asked  her  to  send  Riske  to  him. 
In  a  few  minutes  a  young  fellow  appeared  and  stood 
before  his  desk. 

"  Jim,"  said  Mr.  Barker,  "  you  had  a  customer  a  few 
minutes  ago  who  wanted  some  automobile  accessories." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Jim. 

"  When  he  came  into  the  store  he  stood  just  inside 
the  doorway,  and  kept  glancing  sidewise  at  his  car  ?  " 


A  Trip  to  Boston  125 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Well,  instead  of  going  to  him,  you  looked  at  him 
and  waited  for  him  to  come  over  to  you.  Now,  never 
do  that  again,  for  it  is  bad  salesmanship.  We  want  to 
express  to  our  customers  by  our  words  and  actions  that 
we  are  glad  to  have  them  visit  our  store,  and  that  we 
approach  them  more  than  half  way.  Now,  for  us  to 
stand  still  and  make  a  customer  walk  right  up  to  us  at 
the  end  of  the  counter  is  not  expressing  that  attitude, 
is  it?" 

Jim  was  silent. 

"  Whenever  a  customer  comes  into  the  store,  always 
go  to  him.  The  very  act  of  walking  toward  the  cus- 
tomer makes  him  feel  more  at  ease;  and  incidentally, 
when  you  get  a  customer  like  the  one  you  had,  don't 
ask  him  to  come  to  the  rear  of  the  store  as  you  did,  for 
he  was  nervous  about  his  car.  Instead,  you  should 
bring  the  article  to  him  —  that  is,  if  it  is  some  small 
article  that  can  be  easily  brought. 

"  Now,  this  is  apparently  only  a  little  matter,  but 
you  know  most  big  things  are  made  up  of  a  bunch  of 
little  ones,  aren't  they?  If  you'll  just  remember  that, 
Jim,  I'll  be  much  obliged  to  you." 

And  with  this  kindly  admonition  he  dismissed  Jim. 

I  wished  I  had  the  ability  to  give  helpful  suggestions 
like  that. 

I  made  some  remark  to  Mr.  Barker  about  that,  and 
he  said : 

"If  my  salespeople  are  not  successful,  I  am  to  blame, 
not  they.  I  am  in  my  position  because  I  have,  or  am 
supposed  to  have,  more  knowledge  of  business  and  sell- 
ing than  they,  and  it  is  up  to  me  to  pass  my  knowledge 
out  to  them,  and  to  help  them  to  become  better  sales- 


126       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

men.  I  believe  that,  if  ever  a  man  wants  to  find  out 
who  is  responsible  for  his  failure,  he  should  look  at  the 
fellow  he  shaves  in  the  morning." 

"  But  come,"  he  said,  putting  on  his  hat,  "  won't  you 
come  and  have  lunch  with  me?  " 

And  this  big,  busy  retail  merchant,  who  was  not  too 
big  or  too  busy  to  take  me,  a  little  dealer  in  a  small  town 
to  lunch,  took  me  over  to  the  Exeter  House,  where  we 
had  an  excellent  dinner,  and  a  most  enjoyable  chat; 
after  which  he  took  me  over  to  the  association  rooms, 
which  I  had  for  some  time  wanted  to  visit,  where  I  met 
some  other  likeable  fellows  in  the  hardware  business 
who  happened  to  be  in  town. 

I  wished  I  could  have  stayed  longer  to  talk  with  some 
of  the  interesting  men  there,  but  I  felt  we  ought  to  get 
back  to  Farmdale;  so  I  tore  myself  away,  feeling,  how- 
ever, that  our  joy  ride  had  proved  to  be  of  practical 
dollars-and-cents  value  to  me. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A   SUCCESSFUL   MONDAY   MEETING 

MY  Monday  night  meetings  were  proving  very  bene- 
ficial, and  one,  in  particular,  had  been  very  interesting. 
It  had  been  something  of  an  innovation. 

The  secretary  of  the  hardware  association  had  been 
in  town,  and  I  had  asked  him  around  to  the  house  for 
lunch ;  and  while  there,  I  had  told  him  about  our  weekly 
meetings.  He  thought  it  was  an  excellent  idea. 

"  You  are  doing  a  good  thing,"  he  said,  "  and  you'll 
get  a  lot  closer  to  your  boys.  They  work  better  for 
you,  don't  you  know." 

It  was  Betty  who  had  suggested  the  idea.  It  hadn't 
occurred  to  me  at  all.  She  was  in  the  kitchen,  getting 
the  lunch  ready,  and  I  didn't  think  she  was  paying  any 
attention  to  what  Mr.  Field  and  I  were  talking  about. 
Then,  as  she  was  placing  the  lunch  of  chops  and  grilled 
sweet  potatoes  (grilled  as  only  Betty  can  grill  them) 
on  the  table,  she  had  remarked : 

"If  Mr.  Field  is  staying  in  town  to-night,  why  not 
ask  him  to  attend  your  meeting  with  you  ?  " 

"  That's  a  dandy  idea !  "  I  returned  enthusiastically. 
"  Will  you  come,  Mr.  Field  ?  " 

And  the  big,  rosy-faced,  jovial  secretary  chuckled 
and  said : 

"  Very  glad  to." 

I  had  been  told  a  number  of  times  that  Mr.  Field 

127 


128       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

was  one  of  the  best-natured  men  in  the  world,  which 
perhaps  accounted  somewhat  for  his  success.  His 
readiness  to  comply  with  my  request  tended  to  show 
that  what  I  had  heard  about  him  was  true. 

"  And,  boy  dear,"  said  Betty  sweetly,  "  Mr.  Field 
has  several  stores  of  his  own.  Why  not  make  him  an 
ex-officio  member  of  the  company  for  to-night?  Per- 
haps he  could  give  you  some  good  ideas  on  selling." 

"  Say,  that's  bully !  "  I  cried,  smacking  my  knee. 
"  I'll  tell  the  boys  this  afternoon !  " 

Betty  smiled: 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  just  as  well  to  ask  Mr.  Field  first, 
if  he  would  do  it?" 

"  Why,  yes,  of  course,"  I  replied,  blushing.  "  How 
careless  of  me !  You  will,  won't  you,  Mr.  Field  ?  " 

"  Only  too  glad  to  be  of  service,"  he  returned,  "  if 
you  think  there  is  anything  I  can  say  that  will  help 
them." 

"  I'm  sure  there  is,"  I  said  impetuously. 

We  then  settled  down  to  our  lunch.  A  few  minutes 
later  Betty  suggested : 

"  Won't  it  make  it  pretty  late,  for  Mr.  Field  to  get 
his  dinner  after  the  meeting,  since  it  doesn't  start  until 
6:30?" 

Then  a  brilliant  idea  struck  me. 

"  Betty,"  I  asked,  "  will  you  make  us  coffee  and  buy 
some  doughnuts  and  send  them  down  to  the  store  about 
quarter  past  six  ?  That  will  keep  us  from  starving  un- 
til the  meeting  is  over." 

Well,  we  had  our  coffee  and  doughnuts  before  the 
meeting  started.  Mr.  Field  had  a  chance  to  mix  with 
the  boys,  and  got  them  all  into  good  humor.  Then 
the  meeting  was  called  to  order,  and  I  announced  that, 


A  Successful  Monday  Meeting        129 

before  Mr.  Field  began  to  talk,  we  would  clean  up  any 
left-over  matters. 

I  brought  up  the  matter  of  the  Cincinnati  Pencil 
Sharpener  agency.  The  boys  seemed  to  fight  shy  of 
doing  any  outside  selling,  and  I,  in  a  fit  of  bravado  — 
caused,  I  think,  by  the  keen  twinkle  I  saw  in  Mr.  Field's 
eyes  —  said : 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  I'll  go  out  myself 
to-morrow,  and  see  what  can  be  done  with  it.  If  I 
start  the  ball  rolling,  you  fellows  will  follow  it  up  all 
right,  won't  you?  " 

And  this  was  agreed  to  —  somewhat  half-heartedly, 
I  must  say. 

Wilkes,  who  was  delivery  and  messenger  boy,  and 
general  boy  of  all  work,  then  asked  if  it  wouldn't  be  a 
good  idea  to  sell  toys  at  Christmas  time.  Jones 
laughed  at  this;  but  Larsen  said  nothing.  I,  myself, 
thought  the  idea  rather  ridiculous,  although  I  didn't  say 
so,  of  course;  but  a  glance  at  Mr.  Field's  face  showed 
me  that  he  didn't  think  the  idea  was  foolish. 

"  Tell  you  what  we'll  do,"  I  said.  "  Let's  leave  that 
until  next  week,  for  we  want  to  have  some  good  ideas 
from  Mr.  Field  while  we  have  him  here." 

Mr.  Field,  in  his  good-natured,  friendly  manner, 
started  in  by  inviting  us  to  interrupt  him  at  any  time 
and  ask  any  questions  we  wanted,  because  he  wasn't 
going  to  make  a  speech,  but  was  just  going  "  to 
talk." 

I  wish  I  had  put  down  verbatim  what  he  said ;  but,  as 
I  didn't  I  will  outline  the  main  points  he  brought  out  — 
and  some  dandy  pointers  on  selling  he  gave  us. 

He  was  talking  about  courteous  service  to  customers. 

"  Courtesy  is  something  more  than  mere  politeness," 


130      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

he  said.  "  You  have  to  have  the  real  feeling  of  wish- 
ing to  do  something  for  the  customer,  and  you  have 
to  show  the  customer  you  want  to  help  him  by  every 
word  and  action.  Such  a  feeling,  don't  you  know, 
will  make  you,  when  you  see  a  customer  coming,  go  to 
him  instead  of  standing  still  and  waiting  for  him  to 
come  to  you." 

"  That's  just  what  Mr.  Barker  was  telling  me  last 
week !  "  I  exclaimed. 

Mr.  Field  then  spoke  about  introducing  other  lines 
to  the  customers  while  they  were  waiting. 

"  Have  you  ever  noticed,"  he  said,  "  when  you  go 
into  a  store  to  buy  something  and  you  are  waiting  for 
the  parcel  to  be  wrapped,  or  waiting  for  your  change, 
that  the  salesman  will  usually  make  some  remark  about 
the  weather,  or  talk  about  the  ball  game,  or  the  election 
returns?  That's  all  right  and  very  interesting,  per- 
haps, and  it  helps  to  make  the  customer  like  the  sales- 
man. But  it  would  make  the  cash  register  work  harder 
—  and  you  know,  boys,  there's  no  Society  for  the  Pre- 
vention of  Cruelty  to  Cash  Registers  —  if,  instead  of 
talking  about  the  weather,  or  something  of  that  kind, 
the  clerk  talked  about  something  that  might  make  the 
cash  register  '  ting.'  See  what  I  mean,  boys  ?  Instead 
of  saying,  'A  nice  day,  isn't  it?'  why  don't  you  say 
'  This  is  a  nice  safety  razor,'  or  *  do  you  use  a  safety 
razor?'" 

Larsen  broke  in  with: 

"  You  ask  him  to  buy  something  after  he  got  what 
he  wants  ?  He  get  mad  ?  no  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Field,  "  he  might,  if  you  were  to 
say  to  him,  '  Wouldn't  you  like  to  buy  this  safety 
razor?'  But,  of  course,  you  would  merely  pass  the 


A  Successful  Monday  Meeting        131 

safety  razor  over  to  him,  as  you  mention  it,  saying, 
perhaps :  '  This  is  a  new  kind  of  safety  razor  which 
works  differently  from  the  ordinary  kind  —  what  do 
you  think  of  it?  '  You  do  not  ask  him  to  buy  it;  but 
you  just  try  to  get  him  interested  in  it.  The  difference 
between  being  interested  in  an  article,  and  wanting  to 
own  it,  is  one  of  degree,  and  not  of  kind.  See  what  I 
mean? 

"  There  is  another  thing  that's  helped  sales  in  my 
own  stores  very  much  —  the  use  of  suggestion. 
Whenever  a  customer  buys  anything,  we  always  sug- 
gest something  that  can  go  with  it.  For  instance,  I 
sell  stationery.  Suppose  a  customer  comes  to  our 
stationery  counter  and  asks  for  a  box  of  note  paper. 
We  always  suggest  post-cards,  blotting  paper,  pen  and 
ink,  or  anything  else  that  is  associated  with  the  goods 
she  has  purchased. 

"  If  a  customer  asked  for  a  safety  razor,  don't  you 
think  it  would  be  poor  salesmanship  not  to  offer  him 
something  else  ?  A  machine  could  do  that  much.  But 
it  takes  a  real  salesman  to  sell  him  something  else  and 
I  know  you  boys  are  real  salesmen.  You  mustn't  have 
the  customer  feel  that  he's  been  forced  to  buy  some- 
thing he  doesn't  want,  but  make  him  pleased  with  his 
new  purchase.  When  you're  asked  for  a  safety  razor, 
and  have  made  this  sale  you  should  ask  him  what  kind 
of  shaving  soap  he  uses,  or  tell  him  that  you  have  some 
good  shaving  brushes  which  will  help  to  make  his  shav- 
ing comfortable.  If  a  man  buys  nails,  suggest  a  ham- 
mer; if  he  buys  screws,  suggest  a  screw-driver.  It 
doesn't  matter  what  you're  selling,  there  is  always 
something  you  can  suggest  that  will  go  with  it,  and 
which  is  quite  natural  to  suggest.  I  tell  you,  boys,  a 


132       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

customer  will  very  often  thank  you  for  reminding  him 
of  something  that  he  wants." 

Larsen  brought  up  a  problem,  and  the  way  Mr.  Field 
answered  it,  I  thought,  was  fine.  Certainly  it  was 
something  I  never  would  have  thought  of,  and  I  knew 
that  none  of  the  boys  would  have  known  how  to  get 
around  it. 

Said  Larsen :  "  A  lady,  she  come  in  the  other  day 
and  ask  for  an  oil  lamp.  I  show  her  a  nice  one,  bronze 
finish.  But  she  says  no,  she  want  brass  finish.  We 
don't  carry  brass  finished  lamps  —  no  call  for  'em.  I 
tell  her  bronze  finish  is  better,  keep  cleaner  and  more 
stylish.  But  no,  she  won't  have  it.  She  want  brass 
finish  and  I  couldn't  sell  her.  What  would  you  do 
about  it  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  replied  Mr.  Field,  "  you  can't  sell  to 
everybody.  Some  folks  have  certain  likes  and  dislikes, 
and  it's  a  waste  of  time  to  try  to  change  their  whims 
and  fancies.  I  don't  think  I  would  have  tried  to  swing 
her  into  line  on  the  question  of  the  finish  of  the  lamp, 
I  would  have  ignored  that  altogether  and  talked  about 
some  other  advantages  of  the  lamp.  Do  you  see  what 
I  mean  ?  Here,  how's  this  ?  Instead  of  talking  about 
the  finish,  why  not  say :  *  Yes,  madam,  it's  just  a  mat- 
ter of  taste  whether  you  prefer  brass  or  the  bronze 
finish.  Most  people  prefer  the  bronze  and  that's  why 
we  keep  it.  I  know  the  brass  finish  looks  well  but, 
after  all,  it's  only  a  small  matter.  Isn't  it  more  im- 
portant to  get  a  lamp  that  does  its  work  properly? 
Just  notice  this  duplex  burner,'  and  then  I  would  go  on 
to  describe  all  the  other  features  of  the  lamp,  its  burn- 
ing qualities,  its  economy,  its  durability,  and  things  of 
that  kind.  You  see,  I  would  have  tried  to  side  track 


A  Successful  Monday  Meeting        133 

that  objection  to  the  finish  of  the  lamp  by  talking  about 
other  things.  If  necessary  you  could  tell  her  that  she 
wouldn't  have  to  clean  the  bronze  finish  as  often  as  she 
would  the  brass.  Now,  if  that  isn't  clear  to  you,  Mr. 
Larsen,  say  so.  Don't  hesitate  to  speak  up.  You 
know  I  get  more  out  of  this  than  you  boys  do,  if  you 
ask  questions." 

As  no  one  asked  a  question  Mr.  Field  went  on : 

"  I  don't  believe  you  should  argue  with  a  customer 
on  something  which  is  a  matter  of  taste  or  fancy.  If 
it  was  something  about  whether  or  not  the  lamp  gave 
a  good  light,  you  could  prove  that  it  would,  for  that's 
not  a  question  of  taste,  like  the  color  or  finish.  In  my 
stores  we  make  it  a  rule  to  give  way  to  the  customer  on 
little  matters.  That  makes  him  feel  good  tempered, 
don't  you  know,  and  it's  easy  then  for  us  to  win  our 
point  on  something  important  if  its  necessary  to  getting 
the  order." 

"  I  saw  in  one  of  the  Sunday  papers,"  remarked 
Jones,  "  an  editorial  which  said  to  give  way  on  little 
things,  and  you  will  gain  the  big  ones." 

"That's  about  the  idea,"  replied  Mr.  Field.  "I 
think  that's  very  well  put." 

There  was  one  other  point  that  Mr.  Field  brought 
out,  and  one  on  which  I  was  not  certain  whether  he 
was  right  or  not  —  the  advisability  of  showing  better 
class  goods  all  the  time.  He  said  that  if  he  had  a  store 
like  mine  he  would  want  to  offer  solid  silver  goods  dur- 
ing the  Christmas  trade  for  presents,  and  nice  cases 
of  cutlery.  * 

"  Don't  you  know,"  he  said,  "  that  people  in  this 
town  buy  those  nice  things?  If  you  go  into  the  better- 
class  homes  you  will  find  beautiful -silverware,  and 


134       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

cut-glass,  and  expensive  cutlery,  and  all  that  kind  of 
thing;  but  they  don't  buy  them  in  the  town  because 
your  business  men  seem  afraid  to  stock  up  on  really 
good  stuff  like  that.  When  folks  want  that  good  stuff, 
they  have  to  go  to  the  big  cities  for  it." 

"  Think  of  the  money  it  runs  into,  though,"  I  said. 

"  Yes,  but  think  of  the  extra  profit  you  make  by  it." 

"  Huh,"  interjected  Larsen,  "  that  sounds  nice, 
'  extra  profit.'  Suppose  you  don't  sell  the  goods ! 
There  you  are  flat  on  your  back,  with  a  lot  of  expensive 
silverware  and  things  on  your  chest!  " 

We  laughed  at  Larsen.  When  order  was  restored, 
Mr.  Field  said: 

"  With  a  little  maneuvering  it  is  possible  to  get  such 
goods  on  consignment.  We  make  a  point,  in  all  my 
stores,  of  offering  the  best  goods  we  have  to  the  cus- 
tomer. It's  easier  to  come  down  than  to  go  up,  don't 
you  know.  I  know  a  store  in  a  small  town,  that  never 
used  to  sell  pocket-knives  for  more  than  fifty  cents. 
They  told  me  they  didn't  think  it  possible  to  sell  any- 
thing more  expensive,  there,  forgetting  that  there  was 
a  lot  of  money  there.  A  salesman  one  day  got  them 
to  put  in  a  line  of  pocket-knives  selling,  retail,  up  to 
$2.00  each.  They  were  afraid  of  them,  in  spite  of  the 
salesman's  confidence  that  they  could  sell  them,  if  they 
showed  them  so  the  salesman  finally  agreed  to  send 
them  a  lot  on  consignment.  That  was  —  let  me  see  — 
a  couple  of  years  ago.  When  I  was  in  the  town  a  few 
days  ago,  I  was  talking  with  the  owner  of  that  store 
and  he  told  me  that  now  they  very  seldom  sell  anything 
less  than  50  cents,  and  that  their  average  price  for 
pocket-knives  is  a  dollar  to  a  dollar  and  a  quarter.  He 
said  they  sell  a  lot  of  them  up  as  high  as  $3.50  each, 


A  Successful  Monday  Meeting        135 

and  they  sell  more  knives  now  than  ever  they  did  when 
they  carried  only  cheap  ones." 

A  buzz  went  around  the  store  from  my  little  force  as 
this  fact  sunk  home.  Then  Mr.  Field  sat  down,  and 
we  broke  into  hearty  applause. 

Larsen  got  up,  before  we  closed,  and  suggested  a 
vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Field  for  his  most  instructive 
talk,  which  suggestion  was  followed  out;  and  the  meet- 
ing then  adjourned. 

I  felt  that  it  was  a  mighty  good  thing  to  have  an 
outsider  come  in  and  talk  like  that,  and  I  decided  to  try 
to  get  some  people  to  do  it.  Barlow  was  a  mighty 
clever  man,  but  I  thought  some  of  these  little  stunts  I 
was  pulling  off  were  better  than  anything  he  could 
think  of. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

A    POOR   SALESMAN 

THE  next  day  I  called  on  a  number  of  people  in  the 
town  that  I  knew  and  some  that  I  didn't  know,  with  the 
Cincinnati  pencil  sharpener. 

I  had  delivered  the  eighteen,  that  Downs  sold,  when 
they  arrived,  and  since  then  I  had  sold  only  one  other. 
I  had  begun  to  wonder  whether  I  had  done  right  in 
buying  that  eighteen  extra,  for  the  Cincinnati  man  evi- 
dently had  sold  pretty  well  all  the  people  in  town  who 
wanted  pencil  sharpeners  —  or  so  it  seemed  to  me. 

I  plugged  hard  all  day, —  and  sold  one  sharpener! 
I  started  off  soon  after  nine  o'clock  and  made  my  first 
call  on  Jerry  Mills,  who  was  a  certified  public  account- 
ant. We  knew  each  other  very  well,  so  I  got  right 
down  to  business  when  I  went  into  his  office,  and  said : 

"  Jerry,  I  want  to  sell  you  a  pencil  sharpener.  It's 
a  dandy,  and  I  know  you'll  like  it,"  and  then  I  brought 
out  the  Cincinnati. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  old  man,"  replied  Jerry,  "  but  I've 
already  got  a  pencil  sharpener.  I  bought  it  in  Chicago, 
when  I  was  there  some  time  ago.  Very  similar  to 
yours,  isn't  it?  Well,  how's  business?"  and  we  then 
drifted  into  general  talk. 

I  spent  about  half  an  hour  with  him;  but,  of  course, 
as  he  already  had  a  pencil  sharpener,  I  couldn't  sell  him 
another  one. 

My  next  call  was  on  Dunn,  who  ran  a  clothing  store. 

136 


A  Poor  Salesman  137 

I  knew  Dunn  by  sight,  but  I  didn't  think  he  knew  me. 
I  walked  up  the  three  flights  and  back  to  the  rear  of  the 
building,  and  stopped  in  front  of  the  railing  of  his 
office.  I  waited  for  two  or  three  minutes,  and  then  a 
boy  came  in  and  asked  me  what  I  wanted. 

"  I  want  to  see  Mr.  Dunn,"  I  said. 

"  What  about  ?  "  asked  the  youngster,  rather  impu- 
dently. 

"  You  tell  him  I'm  — "  and  then  I  hesitated,  and  I 
said  to  myself  that  I  wouldn't  tell  him  I  was  Dawson 
Black.  "  Tell  him  that  a  salesman  from  Dawson 
Black  wants  to  see  him." 

A  minute  or  two  later  the  boy  returned.  "  Mr. 
Dunn  says  whatdeyuh  want  ter  see  'im  for  ?  " 

"  Tell  him  I  want  to  show  him  a  new  pencil  sharp- 
ener that  we  have  just  got  the  agency  for."  I  was  a 
little  bit  exasperated. 

The  young  demon  grinned  and  said,  "  A'right,"  in  a 
funny  manner,  marched  into  the  private  office  and  re- 
turned, it  seemed  without  pausing,  saying :  "  Nuttin' 
doin'." 

I  hesitated  as  to  what  to  do,  when  he  added : 

"  'Tain't  no  use.  Boss  got  a  grouch  on  this 
mornin'." 

I  remembered  the  rude  reception  I  had  given  the 
Cincinnati  pencil  sharpener  man  when  he  called  on  me, 
and  the  way  he  had  come  back  at  me,  and  I  said  to  my- 
self that,  if  I  could  only  see  Dunn  then  I'd  give  him  the 
same  kind  of  medicine.  While  I  stood  there  wonder- 
ing what  to  do,  my  wish  was  gratified,  for  Dunn's  door 
flew  open,  and  out  he  came  hurriedly.  He  was  short, 
stout,  red-faced  man,  almost  bald,  and  has  bristling  red 
whiskers. 


138      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"Oh,  Mr.  Dunn!  "I  called. 

He  turned  around  and  snapped : 

"  What  do  you  want?  " 

"  I  am  from  Dawson  Black's  — " 

"  Oh,  I  know  all  about  that.  We  don't  want  any 
pencil  sharpeners.  Didn't  the  boy  tell  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  but— " 

"  Then  what  the  devil  are  you  waiting  for?  " 

I  gulped  and  replied,  "  Nothing."  He  turned  and 
walked  away. 

Let  me  confess  it.  I  was  afraid  of  him!  I  hate  to 
admit  it,  but  I  was.  I  went  down  the  stairs,  feeling 
like  a  naughty  boy  who  had  been  spanked  —  and  yet  he 
was  altogether  in  the  wrong!  That  little  experience 
gave  me  a  lot  of  sympathy  for  traveling  salesmen,  and 
also  made  me  realize  that  those  salesmen  who  called 
on  me  were  bigger  men  than  I  was.  And  I  realized 
that  Dunn  was  a  bigger  man  than  I  was,  in  spite  of  his 
rudeness.  I  could  no  more  have  answered  his  inso- 
lence, the  way  Downs  answered  mine,  than  I  could  have 
flown  to  the  moon. 

That  reception  knocked  most  of  the  heart  out  of  me, 
and  I  wasn't  very  cheerful  when  I  called  on  Blickens, 
the  president  of  the  bank.  I  picked  him  out  because  I 
figured  that,  at  least,  he  would  be  civil  to  me. 

When  I  told  him  what  I  had  come  for,  he  said : 

"  We  have  several  of  those  around  here,  but  —  send 
one  around."  He  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and 
passed  me  a  dollar  bill.  I  thanked  him  and  retired,  but 
I  knew  in  my  heart  that  he  didn't  want  one,  and  that  he 
had  given  me  the  order  just  to  get  rid  of  me,  without- 
offending  me  or  hurting  my  feelings,  because  I  was  a 
depositor  in  the  bank.  I  felt  like  a  panhandler. 


A  Poor  Salesman  139 

And  that  was  the  result  of  my  morning's  work.  It 
was  getting  along  toward  twelve  o'clock,  so  I  went 
home  for  lunch. 

I  made  only  two  calls  in  the  afternoon,  both  on  peo- 
ple I  knew.  In  each  case  they  said  they  would  be  glad 
to  buy  one  if  it  would  help  me,  but  really  they  —  dash 
it  all,  I  didn't  want  people  to  buy  things  of  me  just  to 
help  me!  So  I  told  them  I  didn't  want  them  to  have 
it,  and  I'm  afraid  I  was  very  bad  tempered. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  store,  Larsen  asked : 

"  Well,  Boss,  how  did  you  make  out  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  I  replied,  "  I  haven't  been  very  busy.  I  only 
sold  one.  But  I  haven't  really  worked  very  much. 
I've  been  kind  of  doing  some  visiting."  And  I  felt 
all  the  time  that  Larsen  knew  I  was  lying  to  him,  for 
I  certainly  did  work  hard,  and  I  felt  more  nervously 
tired  that  night  than  I  had  been  for  a  long  while. 

I  told  Betty  about  my  experiences.  "  Poor  boy ! 
Never  mind,  boy  dear,"  she  said,  "  forget  it  now. 
Take  off  your  shoes  and  I'll  bring  your  slippers  for 
you."  She  brought  me  my  slippers  and  my  old  meer- 
schaum pipe,  which  she  had  filled,  and  placed  it  between 
my  teeth,  and  lit  a  match  for  me,  and  then  sat  on  the 
floor  beside  me.  It  was  fine  to  have  a  wife  like  Betty 
to  buck  me  up!  She  certainly  gave  me  back  my  self- 
respect. 

Never  again  would  I  be  rude  to  the  fellow  who 
called  on  me  at  my  store.  I  wish  every  store  owner 
would  try  the  work  I  did  that  day.  I  think  there'd  be 
more  kindliness  and  courtesy  in  the  relationship  be- 
tween buyer  and  salesman.  Barlow  was  a  kind- 
hearted  man,  but  even  he  wasn't  always  courteous  when 
he  was  busy  or  didn't  want  to  talk  to  a  salesman. 


140       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

As  I  was  leaving  the  house  the  next  morning  Betty 
asked  me: 

"Boy  dear,  did  you  read  this  little  booklet?"  It 
was  the  booklet  which  Downs  had  left  me.  I  had  for- 
gotten all  about  it.  Going  down  to  the  store,  I  glanced 
at  it,  and  realized  then,  that  my  methods  had  all  been 
wrong,  and  that  probably  I  had  been  to  blame  for  my 
failure  the  day  before. 

For  instance,  it  said :  "  The  name  of  the  firm  and 
of  yourself  are  of  secondary  importance  in  selling  the 
Cincinnati  pencil  sharpener.  It  is  what  it  will  do  that 
counts.  When  calling  on  a  prospect,  don't  say,  '  Can  I 
sell  you  a  pencil  sharpener  ?  '  but  ask  him  to  lend  you  a 
pencil  and  tell  him  you  will  show  him  how  he  can  keep 
it  pointed  easily  and  make  it  last  longer."  And  then  it 
went  on  to  explain  how  to  demonstrate  the  device. 
"  In  brief,"  it  said,  "  show  the  prospect  how  the  sharp- 
ener works  —  for  preference  get  him  to  sharpen  a  pen- 
cil for  himself;  and  then,  when  he  once  sees  how  easily 
it  operates,  he  is  more  than  half  sold.  Then  talk  about 
the  price." 

And  I  had  done  just  the  opposite!  I  first  of  all  had 
told  where  I  was  from,  then  that  I  wanted  to  sell  them 
a  pencil  sharpener,  and  I  hadn't  demonstrated  it  at  all ! 
I  realized  when  I  read  the  book  that  the  trouble  was 
that  they  had  made  up  their  minds  not  to  buy  before  I 
had  a  chance  of  telling  them  what  it  was.  I  decided  to 
try  again,  following  the  suggestions  in  the  book  and 
see  if  it  worked  any  better. 

One  good  point  I  learned  from  the  book,  which  I  put 
on  the  schedule  for  the  next  Monday's  meeting,  was 
that  a  salesman  should  always  get  the  customer  to  see 
for  himself  how  a  thing  works  —  that,  when  you  get 


A  Poor  Salesman  141 

him  to  handle  it,  it  helps  to  make  the  sale.  Thinking 
of  this  reminded  me  of  the  time  when  Betty's  kid  sister 
had  visited  us.  I  had  asked  her  if  she  would  like  to 
have  a  doll,  and  she  had  said  yes,  but  she  hadn't  seemed 
particularly  keen  over  it.  Then  I  had  pointed  one  out 
to  her  when  we  were  passing  Riley's  store  —  he  ran  a 
stationery  store,  and  sold  dolls,  school  supplies,  and 
toys  as  well  —  and  she  had  thought  it  was  a  nice  doll, 
but  I  had  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  her  to  come  to  the 
office  with  me  first.  But  later  on,  when  I  took  her  into 
Riley's  and  she  had  got  a  big  doll  in  her  arms,  I 
couldn't  take  it  away  from  her  to  get  it  wrapped  up! 
No,  sir-ree,  she  had  just  hung  tight  to  her  doll,  and 
nothing  could  induce  her  to  part  with  it,  and  she  had 
carried  it  away  without  having  it  wrapped. 

Now,  that  was  interesting,  wasn't  it?  When  I  had 
just  spoken  to  her  about  the  doll,  her  interest  was  only 
mild.  When  she  had  seen  it  her  interest  was  a  little 
stronger.  But  when  she  actually  had  got  it  into  her 
hands  her  desire  was  uncontrollable.  I  could  see  how 
the  same  idea  would  work  out  in  selling  goods  to  cus- 
tomers. If  we  simply  told  them  about  the  goods, 
there  would  be  only  a  passive  interest.  If  we  pointed 
the  article  out  to  them  in  the  case,  it  might  be  stronger, 
but  still  not  strong  enough  to  make  a  sale.  But  if  we 
put  the  article  right  into  the  customer's  hands  and  told 
him  to  see  for  himself  how  it  worked  I  could  readily 
see  how  it  was  going  to  make  the  desire  to  buy  much 
greater  than  anything  else  could. 

I  remembered,  too,  how  Weissman,  one  of  our  neigh- 
bors, had  been  talking  for  a  long,  long  time  about  buy- 
ing an  automobile,  but  had  never  reached  the  point  of 
actually  paying  out  the  money  for  it.  Well,  a  friend 


142       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

took  him  out  in  a  car  one  day  and  showed  him  how  to 
drive  it,  and  Weissman  came  back  so  keen  about  hav- 
ing a  car  that  he  ordered  one  the  same  day,  with  in- 
structions to  have  it  shipped  rush ! 

We'll  adopt  that  idea  as  a  rule  at  our  next  Monday 
night's  meeting. 

A  day  or  two  later,  I  again  tried  my  hand  at  selling 
pencil  sharpeners  —  and  I  sold  five !  The  fellow  that 
wrote  that  little  book  on  how  to  sell  Cincinnati  pencil 
sharpeners  had  known  what  he  was  talking  about,  all 
right. 

The  first  man  I  struck  was  Blenkhorn,  who  ran  the 
meat  market.  He  was  considered  the  meanest  man  in 
town.  I  had  make  up  my  mind  to  start  with  a  good, 
tough  customer,  because  I  wanted  to  give  the  new  plan 
a  thorough  test,  and  I  felt  that  if  I  could  sell  to  a 
tough  one  I  could  sell  to  anybody.  Well,  the 
toughest  customer  I  could  think  of  was  Blenkhorn, 
so  I  started  on  him.  You  see,  I  had  my  courage 
back. 

Well,  I  went  into  his  store.  Blenkhorn  nodded  to 
me.  "  Hello,  Black,"  he  said. 

"  Hello,  Mr.  Blenkhorn,"  I  returned.  "  How  many 
pencils  do  you  use  in  a  year  here?  " 

"  Pencils  ?  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,  but  I  think  my 
people  eat  'em.  I'm  everlastingly  buying  'em." 

"  Suppose  I  could  tell  you  a  way  to  make  them  last 
about  twice  as  long." 

"  H'm!  If  you  can  tell  me  how  to  make  these  peo- 
ple more  careful  with  pencils,  I'll  be  mighty  glad  to 
know  it." 

"  Well,  I'll  show  you,"  and  here  I  put  my  sharpener 
on  the  counter.  "  You  know,"  I  said,  "  when  a  man 


A  Poor  Salesman  143 

sharpens  a  pencil  what  a  lot  of  wood  and  lead  he  cuts 
away  ?  " 

"  Cuts  away  ?  Why,  here  they  hack  'em  all  to 
pieces !  But  what's  that  contraption?  " 

"  I'll  show  you.  Just  lend  me  a  pencil."  He 
passed  over  a  pencil  that  looked  as  if  the  wood  at  the 
end  had  been  bitten  off,  instead  of  cut  off. 

Blenkhorn  was  watching  my  actions  rather  curi- 
ously. I  put  the  pencil  in  the  sharpener,  gave  it  two 
or  three  turns,  and  out  it  came  with  the  point  nicely 
rounded  and  sharpened. 

"  You  notice,"  I  said,  "  that  it  didn't  cut  away  any 
of  the  lead  at  all,  only  the  wood." 

"  H'm,"  he  returned,  and  then  he  walked  away  and 
came  back  with  a  half  a  dozen  more  pencils.  "  Let's 
see  it  sharpen  some  more." 

"  Go  ahead,  try  it  yourself,  Mr.  Blenkhorn." 

I  held  the  outfit  firmly  and  he  sharpened  one  after  the 
other. 

"  H'm,"  he  said  again.  "  How  much  is  that 
thing?" 

"  Only  a  dollar." 

"  You  can  buy  a  lot  of  pencils  for  a  dollar,"  he 
mused. 

"  That's  true,"  I  replied,  "  but  you'll  save  a  lot  of 
dollars  by  the  use  of  this."  I  had  got  that  from  the 
chapter  in  the  booklet  headed :  "  Answers  to  objec- 
tions." 

"  Send  me  one  of  those,  Black,"  said  Blenkhorn. 
"  I'll  try  it." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Blenkhorn,"  I  said.  "By  the 
way,  do  you  want  any  butcher's  supplies  now.  I  have 
some  mighty  good  knives." 


144       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

11  No,  I  have  all  of  those  I  want.  Oh,  the  missis  did 
tell  me  to  go  down  to  Stigler's  to  buy  a  good  short- 
handled  ax  for  splitting  kindling." 

"  I'll  save  you  the  trouble  and  send  it  down  for  you, 
right  away." 

"  How  much  are  they  worth?  " 

"  Dollar  and  a  half." 

"  The  last  one  I  got  cost  me  only  a  dollar." 

"How  long  did  it  last?" 

"  Not  long.     The  blamed  head  kept  coming  off." 

"  Well,  I'll  sell  you  one  for  $1.50,  and  guarantee  the 
head  won't  come  off,  and  if  it  does  I'll  replace  it  for  you 
free  of  charge." 

Without  further  words,  he  went  to  the  cash  register, 
took  out  $2.50  and  handed  it  to  me,  saying  with  a 
grin: 

"  You're  right  after  business,  aren't  you,  Black  ? 
Good  luck  to  you." 

Well,  I  found  that  this  method  worked  well,  and  I 
sold  five  sharpeners  during  the  day  —  six  in  fact,  for 
when  I  got  back  to  the  store  I  found  that  they  had  sold 
two  more,  and  one  of  them  had  been  to  Blakely,  the 
lawyer,  on  whom  I  had  called  earlier  in  the  day,  and 
who  had  said  he  might  get  one  later  on.  Evidently  he 
had  changed  his  mind,  and  dropped  into  the  store  when 
he  was  passing  by.  In  addition  to  the  sale  of  the 
sharpeners,  I  had  sold  $n.oo  worth  of  other  things. 
That  was  going  some,  wasn't  it? 

And  to  think,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  that  little  book, 
I  would  never  have  started  the  plan ! 

Well,  we  all  seemed  to  have  the  pencil  sharpener 
craze,  and  I  was  glad  of  it,  and  determined  to  push 
pencil  sharpeners  all  I  could,  if  only  as  a  kind  of  thank- 


A  Poor  Salesman  145 

you  for  their  putting  me  onto  a  new  channel  of  getting 
business. 

I  met  Barlow  as  I  was  coming  home.  I  told  him 
what  I  had  done,  and  how  I  had  got  the  order  for  the 
ax  which  Stigler  would  have  had.  He  laughed  heart- 
ily at  that,  and  said  he  was  very  glad  to  hear  it. 

"  I  think  you're  going  to  make  a  real  big  man  yet, 
Dawson,"  he  said.  "  Is  Stigler  still  hurting  you  with 
his  mark-down  prices?  " 

"  Yes,  he  is,"  I  confessed.  "  But  I  think  I've  got  a 
plan  that's  going  to  put  it  all  over  him." 

"What's  that?" 

"  I'm  going  to  start  using  trading  stamps." 

"  What-at !  "  he  said,  in  a  surprised  tone. 

*'  Yes,"  I  continued.  "  The  man  was  to  have  come 
last  Thursday;  but  he  had  to  leave  town  Wednesday 
night,  and  he  wired  me  that  he  was  coming  up  to-mor- 
row, and  I'm  going  to  take  them  up." 

Barlow  stopped  short  in  the  street,  swung  me  around 
until  I  was  facing  him,  and  said  in  a  stern  tone : 

"  Young  man,  do  you  know  what  a  fool  thing  you 
are  trying  to  do?  " 

"  Fool  thing  nothing!  "  I  returned.  "And  I  don't 
see  how  you  are  able  to  judge  that."  I  rather  felt  that 
he  was  butting  in  where  he  had  no  concern. 

"  You're  right,"  he  said,  "  it's  no  concern  of  mine 
at  all.  But  for  heaven's  sake,  lad,  think  twice  before 
you  tangle  yourself  up  with  anything  like  that." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

STIGLER   PREPARES   ANOTHER   BLOW 

WHEN  I  told  Fellows  about  my  trading  stamp  idea, 

he  suggested  that  I  think  over  the  question  once  more, 

before  taking  them  up,  and  he  asked  if  he  could  be 

present  at  the  interview  when  the  Garter  trading  stamp 

•man  came  around. 

It  was  hard  to  tell  what  to  do.  I  thought  trading 
stamps  were  a  good  thing;  but  Fellows  of  the  Flaxon 
Advertising  Agency  apparently  didn't  like  them,  and 
Barlow  didn't  either.  When  I  talked  it  over  with 
Betty,  first  she  said,  "  Don't  touch  them  at  all,"  then 
she  said,  "  I  don't  know,  try  them !  "  Finally  she  said 
she  didn't  know  what  to  think  of  them.  The  decision 
was,  after  all,  up  to  me  and  no  one  seemed  to  know 
much  about  them. 

Well,  I  agreed  to  think  it  over  again,  and  when 
Bulder,  the  Garter  trading  stamp  man,  came,  I  put  him 
off  until  the  next  day.  Fellows  was  going  to  be  there 
when  he  came,  and  I  thought  I'll  let  those  two  have  it 
out  and  put  my  money  on  the  winner. 

Stigler  was  up  to  a  new  dodge. 

Until  the  first  of  the  month  there  had  been  a  small 
men's  furnishing  store  next  door  to  me.  Well,  Dor- 
man,  who  ran  the  store,  had  ended  by  running  it  to 
the  wall.  Poor  fellow,  he'd  been  in  that  location  for 
over  forty  years,  and  at  the  time  was  a  man  of  nearly 

146 


Stigler  Prepares  Another  Blow        147 

seventy.  He  never  had  done  much  business,  at  least 
not  since  my  knowledge  of  him,  and,  towards  the  last, 
the  place  had  been  getting  seedier  and  seedier  each 
month,  and  finally  he  had  had  to  give  it  up.  He  told 
the  Mater  —  he  knew  her  quite  well  —  that  he  never 
had  made  over  $20.00  a  week  in  the  store,  and,  after 
paying  up  all  his  debts,  he  had  less  than  half  the  money 
he  had  originally  put  into  the  business. 

"  I'd  have  been  much  better  off  clerking  for  some 
one  else,"  he  had  told  the  Mater,  "  for  I  would  have 
saved  a  little  money.  As  it  is,  here  I  am,  three  score 
and  ten,  and,  if  I  live  two  years  more,  I'll  have  to  go 
to  the  poorhouse,  I  suppose." 

Old  Dorman  had  made  me  think  pretty  seriously 
when  he  got  out.  I  was  wondering  how  many  more 
small  storekeepers  were  in  Dorman's  position;  how 
many  of  them  had  bungled  along  from  year  to  year, 
making  a  bare  existence;  I  hoped  I  could  do  better 
than  that !  It  had  made  me  feel  the  need  of  not  only 
keeping  up-to-date,  but  up-to-to-morrow  in  business 
ideas.  I  remembered  what  Barker,  the  big  hardware 
man  in  Boston,  had  said  to  me  when  I  asked  him  why 
there  were  so  many  little  stores,  after  he  had  men- 
tioned that  there  were  a  lot  of  little  stores  which  were 
not  represented  in  the  association. 

"  The  reason,"  he  returned,  with  a  sad  shake  of  his 
head,  "  is  that  the  men  who  run  them  are  little.  They 
wear  blinkers  all  their  lives.  Their  outlook  is  ex- 
tremely narrow.  They  never  grasp  what  is  going  on 
around  them.  They  don't  keep  up  to  date  in  their 
ideas  and  methods  of  doing  business.  They  never 
grow,  but  remain  little  all  their  lives." 

But  I  started  in  to  tell  what  it  was  that  Stigler  did. 


148       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

That  afternoon,  to  my  surprise,  I  saw  him  in  Dor- 
man's  empty  store  with  a  carpenter,  measuring  the 
floor  space.  When  he  came  out  I  was  on  the  doorstep 
bidding  good-by  to  Betty,  who  had  dropped  into  the 
store  to  remind  me  that  I  was  to  take  home  some  cheap 
kitchen  knives. 

"  Hello,  Black,"  called  Stigler,  as  he  came  out  of 
the  store.  At  the  same  time  his  lips  gave  that  con- 
temptuous curl  which  always  got  under  my  epidermis. 

"  Hello,  yourself,  Stigler,"  I  replied. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  stopping  for  a  minute  in  front  of 
me,  "  you  and  me's  going  to  be  pretty  close  neighbors, 
Black,  ain't  we?  " 

"What  do  you  mean?"  I  asked. 

"  I've  just  rented  old  Dorman's  store.  You  know, 
I  think  there's  room  in  this  town  for  a  good  five-and- 
ten-cent  store,  specializing  on  kitchen  goods.  This 
looked  like  a  good  location  to  me,  so  I'm  just  going 
to  try  it  out.  Open  up  the  first  of  the  month." 

"  Fine,"  I  said.  "  Good  luck  to  you ! "  putting  as 
much  heartiness  into  my  tone  as  I  could.  And  then 
I  went  into  the  store  before  my  rage,  and  let  me  say, 
anxiety,  should  show  themselves  to  Stigler. 

"  Gee  whitakins !  "  I  thought.  "  A  five-and-ten- 
cent  store,  next  door  to  me,  specializing  in  kitchen 
goods,  and  run  by  Stigler!  " 

I  knew,  without  his  saying  a  word  about  it,  that 
he  was  opening  that  store  with  the  money  he  had  just 
inherited  from  a  brother  out  West,  and  that  he  was 
doing  it  just  to  try  "  to  run  me  off  my  feet,"  as  he 
had  expressed  it  before. 

I  think  I  did  the  best  thing  I  could  possibly  have 
done  under  the  circumstances,  for  I  went  right  over 


Stigler  Prepares  Another  Blow        149 

to  Barlow's.  Barlow  had  told  me  repeatedly  that, 
any  time  I  needed  help,  I  should  go  right  to  him.  I 
certainly  felt  that  I  needed  the  advice  of  an  old  war- 
horse  like  he  was.  Somehow  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
bit  old-fashioned  and  staid  in  his  ways  made  him  ap- 
pear a  rock  of  comfort  to  me. 

I  told  him  the  whole  story,  and  he  certainly  looked 
grave. 

"  What  can  I  do  ?  "  I  asked  anxiously.  "  I  haven't 
the  money  to  fight  him.  He  is  cutting  into  my  profits 
very  much  as  it  is.  Would  you  advise  me  to  make  a 
big  display  of  five-and-ten-cent  goods  before  he  has  a 
chance  to  open  the  store  ?  " 

"  When  is  he  going  to  get  started  ?  " 

"  Well,  he  said  he  was  going  to  open  by  the  first  of 
the  month." 

I  think  for  five  minutes  Barlow  said  nothing,  but 
just  see-sawed  backward  and  forward  on  his  swivel 
chair. 

"  What  ratio  would  cheap  kitchen  goods  bear  to 
your  total  sales?"  he  finally  asked. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean." 

"  I  mean,  suppose  you  sell  a  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  goods,  how  many  dollars'  worth  of  that  would  be 
in  five-  ten-  and  fifteen-cent  articles?  " 

"  I  can't  tell  you  that." 

"  Surely  you  have  some  idea  as  to  whether  the  cheap 
goods  are  the  ones  that  sell  best  in  your  store  ?  " 

"  Well,  I'm  sure  I  don't  know." 

Some  of  those  old-timers  were  pretty  shrewd  fel- 
lows after  all.  I  had  never  thought  of  analyzing  my 
sales  in  that  way. 

"  Tell  you  what  to  do,"  he  said.     "  Find  out  what 


150      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

proportion  you  are  buying  of  five-  ten-  and  fifteen-cent 
kitchen  goods,  and  how  much  of  the  better-class 
goods." 

"  What  then  ?  "  I  inquired,  still  in  the  dark. 

"If  your  big  sales  are  on  the  cheaper  goods,  I  would 
advise  you  to  make  a  window  display  of  half  cheap 
and  half  good  articles.  Put  a  sign  in  the  window  to 
the  effect  that  you  have  cheap  articles  to  sell,  and  good 
ones  to  use.  If  you  find  your  sales  are  mostly  on  the 
better-class  goods,  I  would  advise  you  to  start  an  edu- 
cational advertising  campaign,  if  you  can  afford  it." 

"  What  is  an  educational  advertising  campaign  ?  " 

"  It  means  advertising  the  better-class  goods  and 
giving  reasons  and  facts  why  they  are  better  than  the 
cheaper  ones.  Advertise  that  you  have  the  low-priced 
articles,  but,  if  they  want  the  cheapest,  the  best  is  the 
cheapest  in  the  end.  For  instance,  here  is  a  ten-cent 
Dover  egg-beater.  I  have  one  here,  a  glass  affair, 
which  sells  at  a  dollar.  Actually,  I  am  selling  almost 
as  many  of  the  dollar  egg-beaters  as  I  do  of  the  ten- 
cent  ones." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  I  show  them  that  the  ten-cent  egg-beaters 
cannot  last  very  long  —  they  can't  expect  a  ten-cent 
article  to  do  that  —  but  this  glass  one  will  last  indefi- 
nitely; it  is  more  sanitary;  the  tinning  on  it  is  very 
heavy  and  it  won't  rust ;  it  is  cleaner,  more  serviceable, 
easier  to  work,"  and  then  he  gave  me  half  a  dozen 
more  facts  about  that  dollar  egg-beater  which  I  would 
never  have  thought  of.  "If  you  were  buying  an  egg- 
beater,"  he  continued  with  a  smile,  "  which  would  you 
buy  now  ?  " 

"  Buy  the  best  one  unquestionably,  because  I  can  see, 


Stigler  Prepares  Another  Blow        151 

after  what  you  have  told  me,  that  the  other  isn't  to  be 
compared  with  it !  " 

"  Exactly.  And  if  you  tell  those  facts  to  your 
trade,  they  will  buy  the  better  article  in  just  the  same 
way." 

"  Then,  if  I  am  selling  more  of  the  better-class  goods 
than  the  cheaper  ones,  you  would  advise  me  to  give 
Stigler  the  cheap  business  —  give  up  the  fight  for  it?  " 

"  No,"  he  returned  with  a  smile.  "  Don't  give  up 
the  fight,  but  fight  him  in  a  way  that  will  hurt  him 
most.  That  is,  to  educate  the  people  away  from  the 
cheap  goods." 

"  I  see !  Kind  o'  put  him  out  of  business  by  killing 
the  demand  for  his  goods !  " 

"  That's  the  idea,  and  it  sounds  easy  if  you  say  it 
quickly.  Candidly,"  he  said,  "  I  don't  think  it  will 
hurt  your  business  much.  I  wouldn't,  personally, 
mind  another  hardware  store  opening  next  to  me,  par- 
ticularly if  they  played  the  game  according  to  Hoyle." 

"  But  Stigler  won't  do  it !  "  I  cried. 

Betty  agreed  with  Barlow  that  the  thing  to  do  was 
to  try  to  develop  the  sale  for  the  better-class  articles. 
"  For,"  said  she,  "  if  a  woman  buys  a  ten-cent  egg- 
beater,  you  make  three  cents  profit  on  it.  If  she  buys 
a  dollar  egg-beater,  you  make  over  thirty  cents  profit 
on  it,  and  the  sale  of  one  of  those  dollar  articles  is 
about  equal  to  a  dozen  of  the  cheap  ones." 

"  By  Jove,  you're  right !  "  I  exclaimed.  "  Perhaps 
Stigler's  latest  move  to  '  run  me  off  my  feet '  may  be 
the  petard  which  will  hoist  him  off  his  own;  at  any 
rate,  as  regards  his  five-and-ten-cent  venture." 

Naturally,  I  could  think  of  nothing  but  Stigler  and 
five-and-ten-cent  competition,  and  finally  I  had  an  idea. 


152       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

This  idea  was  awfully  simple  —  unless  it  proved  to  be 
simply  awful. 

There  were  in  Farmdale  about  a  dozen  stores  to 
rent.  I  had  no  thought  of  renting  them;  but  I  was 
going  to  see  the  landlords  of  those  places  and  see  what 
they  would  charge  me  to  rent  the  windows  for  a  week ! 
and  then  I'd  ask  Barlow  to  let  me  hire  his  men  for  an 
evening  to  trim  each  of  those  windows  with  the  better- 
class  kitchen  goods,  and  then  I'd  put  a  big  sign  in  each 
window  something  like  this:  "If  you  want  kitchen 
goods  that  wear,  you'll  find  them  at  Dawson  Black's." 
I'd  have  smart  little  talking  signs  worked  up  and  put 
on  the  goods,  saying  why  they  were  better  than  cheap 
articles,  and  asking  customers  to  come  to  my  store  at 
32  Hill  Street,  and  we  would  demonstrate  why  it  paid 
to  get  the  best.  "  It  pays  to  get  the  best."  That  was 
to  be  the  slogan,  and  I  would  print  it  on  the  bottom  of 
all  price  tickets  and  talking  signs ! 

I  began  to  feel  rather  pleased  that  Stigler  was  start- 
ing that  five-and-ten-cent  store  next  to  me !  It  seemed 
to  have  shaken  me  into  action.  I  believed  that,  with  a 
good  window  display  in  those  empty  stores  for  a  week, 
I  could  work  up  a  lot  of  business  and  get  a  lot  of 
valuable  publicity  into  the  bargain. 

When  I  mentioned  the  idea  to  Betty,  she  didn't  say 
anything  for  a  few  seconds,  and  then  she  said  very 
demurely : 

"  Dawson,  you  can  have  two  more  buckwheat  cakes 
this  morning." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

TRADING   STAMPS 

BULDER,  the  Garter  trading  stamp  man,  called  ac- 
cording to  arrangement. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said  heartily,  as  he 
entered  the  store.  "  Well,  I  don't  think  we'll  have 
much  difficulty  in  getting  this  little  matter  fixed  up 
to-day.  It  is  going  to  mean  a  big  thing  for  you,  and 
you  can  be  quite  sure  that  the  Garter  Trading  Stamp 
Company  is  going  to  be  at  the  back  of  you  to  make  this 
thing  a  big  success," 

He  spoke  quite  confidently,  as  if  he  were  sure  I  was 
going  to  take  them  up.  And  indeed  I  had  been  all 
along  practically  decided  to  adopt  them. 

"  That's  fine,"  I  said  in  response  to  Bulder's  greet- 
ing. "  I  want  you,  however,  to  meet  Mr.  Fellows,  who 
is  waiting  in  my  office."  I  saw  a  faint  change  take 
place  in  Bulder's  manner.  He  seemed  at  once  to  be- 
come a  little  suspicious  and  on  his  guard. 

"Fellows?  Fellows?"  he  replied.  "Oh,  one  of 
your  men?  " 

"  Well,  yes  and  no,"  I  returned  with  a  laugh.  "  He 
is  connected  with  the  Flaxon  Advertising  Agency  and 
he  does  all  my  advertising,  and  I  like  to  get  the  benefits 
of  his  ideas." 

"  Mr.  Black,"  said  Bulder,  "  I  am  doing  this  business 
with  you,  and  while  I  am  sure  that  Mr.  Fellows  is  a 

153 


154       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

mighty  fine  man,  you  could  hardly  expect  me  to  want 
to  talk  this  matter  over  with  him  —  at  any  rate,  with 
the  idea  of  helping  you  to  decide  what  to  do;  for,  you 
see,  he  is  an  advertising  man  and  naturally  wants  to 
spend  all  your  appropriation  himself." 

"  Fellows  isn't  that  kind,"  I  replied,  somewhat 
curtly. 

Bulder  saw  that  he  had  been  tactless,  so  he  put  his 
hand  on  my  shoulder,  and  said,  soothingly: 

"  That's  all  right,  Mr.  Black,  I  was  only  joking. 
Glad  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  any  friend  of  yours." 

I  don't  know  why  it  was,  but  I  seemed  from  that 
moment  to  feel  a  distrust  of  him.  I  had  rather  liked 
him  before.  But  now  he  seemed  to  me  too  suave,  too 
—  oh,  too  fat  and  easy  about  it. 

Well,  we  went  into  my  little  office  and  I  introduced 
him  to  Fellows. 

"  Our  mutual  friend,  Mr.  Black,"  said  Bulder  with 
a  smile,  "  wants  me  to  talk  over  with  you  both  the 
splendid  possibilities  of  his  store  through  the  Garter 
Trading  Stamps.  Good  idea.  It  shows  he  is  cau- 
tious and  has  good  judgment." 

"  Mr.  Black  is  quite  a  busy  man,  you  know,  Mr. 
Bulder,"  Fellows  replied,  "  and  perhaps  don't  have 
time  enough  always  to  think  over  every  angle  of  a 
proposition ;  so  he  very  wisely  believes  in  talking  things 
over  and  getting  an  outside  viewpoint.  Mr.  Black  can 
analyze  these  problems  himself  just  as  well  as  you  or 
I  can ;  but  he  believes  in  conserving  his  time  and  ener- 
gies as  much  as  he  can." 

All  this  preliminary  by-play  interested  and  amused 
me.  But  then  the  real  battle  began.  Imagine  those 
two  —  that  big,  burly,  good-natured,  somewhat  bull- 


Trading  Stamps  155 

dozing  Bulder,  and  the  shrewd,  courteous  New  Eng- 
lander,  Fellows;  Bulder  with  his  heavy,  sledge-ham- 
mer methods, —  the  bludgeon  method,  you  might  call 
it, —  and  Fellows  with  his  keen,  sharp,  rapier  methods. 

Bulder  realized  at  once  that  Fellows  was  strongly 
against  the  stamps,  and  that  it  was  going  to  be  a  battle 
of  wits  and  logic.  I  had  better  confess  that  my 
sporting  blood  was  roused,  and  I  had  decided  that  the 
fellow  who  won  the  argument  would  have  me  on  his 
side. 

"  What  do  you  know  about  the  company  ?  "  I  asked 
Fellows,  so  as  to  get  things  started. 

"  Not  a  thing,"  he  said,  "  but  I  am  sure  that  that  is 
a  matter  of  minor  importance;  for  Mr.  Bulder  is  too 
big  a  business  man  to  connect  himself  with  an  organ- 
ization that  is  not  thoroughly  sound." 

Very  neatly  put !  —  and  yet  I  could  see  that,  even 
if  the  trading  stamp  proposition  won,  Bulder  would 
still  have  to  prove  that  his  company  was  financially 
and  morally  sound. 

How  I  wish  I  could  write  down  in  full  detail  all 
that  was  said  by  both  of  them,  but  I  can't  remember 
it  all.  Bulder  started  in  with  a  few  heavy  blows  by 
stating  that  the  Garter  trading  stamps  gave  the  mer- 
chant who  handled  them  a  decided  advantage  over  his 
competitors ;  for  their  splendid  premium  catalog,  their 
numerous  supply  stations,  the  fact  that  they  would  let 
me  have  a  set  of  representative  premiums  for  window 
display,  the  excellent  line  of  advertising  matter  which 
he  said  was  part  of  the  service  which  I  bought  from 
them  at  the  time  I  bought  their  stamps.  ..."  You 
quite  understand,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said  laboriously, 
"  that  you  are  not  buying  just  trading  stamps  from  us, 


156       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

or  trading  tokens  as  we  prefer  to  call  them,  but  you  are 
buying  a  merchandising  service  —  you  are  buying  all 
the  selling  ideas  and  helps  which  we  can  give  you,  be- 
sides the  splendid  backing  which  the  name  of  Garter 
stamps  gives  you. 

"  And,"  he  continued  to  Fellows,  for  he  knew  that 
Fellows  was  the  opposition  and  not  I,  "  when  Mr. 
Black  takes  up  our  agency,  no  other  hardware  man  in 
town  will  be  able  to  get  it.  ...  In  fact,"  he  said,  with 
a  sudden  burst  of  generosity,  "  so  that  there  will  be 
absolutely  no  question  of  full  protection  and  no  com- 
petition, we  will  not  even  supply  a  glass  and  china 
store,  a  five-and-ten-cent  store,  a  cutlery  store,  or  a 
novelty  store  —  in  fact,  any  other  store  which  might 
compete  with  him  in  any  way. 

"  Thus,  you  see,  I  am  offering  you  something,  Mr. 
Black,"  he  said  with  an  ingratiating  smile,  "  which  is 
a  wonderful  advantage  to  you.  It  will  really  put  your 
store  in  a  class  by  itself." 

"  Fine! "  broke  in  Fellows,  before  I  could  say  any- 
thing. "  A  thought  has  just  occurred  to  me,  how- 
ever. While  you  promise  that  no  other  hardware  man 
shall  have  the  Garter  stamps,  can  you  promise  that  no 
other  trading  stamp  concern  will  offer  stamps  to  any 
other  hardware  man  in  Farmdale  ?  " 

Bulder  replied  with  a  deprecating  smile :  "  What 
other  concerns  are  there  of  our  importance  and  size?  " 

Fellows  came  back  with  the  names  of  two  concerns 
which  were  better  known  to  me  than  the  Garter  trading 
stamp. 

"  Why,  yes,"  drawled  Bulder,  "  of  course,  they 
might  offer  stamps  to  some  other  hardware  man.  But, 
my  dear  sir,  think  a  minute  —  what  are  the  value  of 


Trading  Stamps  157 

their  stamps  compared  to  ours?  Why,  my  good 
friend,  you  can't  compare  them!  Every  woman  in 
town  knows  that  Garter  stamps  have  a  higher  premium 
value  than  any  others." 

"  Exactly,"  replied  Fellows.  "  By  the  way,  what 
other  stores  have  you  in  this  town  at  present  ?  " 

Bulcler  slowly  turned  until  he  was  facing  Fellows. 
Leaning  his  elbow  on  the  desk,  he  asked : 

"  Didn't  I  tell  you  that  I  was  giving  Mr.  Black  the 
opportunity  to  reap  the  big  benefit  of  being  the  first 
with  our  stamps  here  ?  " 

"  That's  funny !  "  I  broke  in  impetuously,  but  a  look 
from  Fellows  stopped  me.  I  had  been  going  to  say 
that  I  didn't  see  how  his  last  two  remarks  gibed ;  for 
in  one  breath  he  had  said  that  every  woman  in  town 
knew  that  Garter  trading  stamps  were  better,  and  in 
the  next  he  had  said  that  I  was  to  reap  the  first  big 
benefit  of  having  the  stamps. 

Fellows  had  leaned  forward  and  was  saying  to 
Bulder: 

"  Mr.  Bulder,  do  you  really  believe  it  is  good  busi- 
ness to  offer  something  for  nothing?" 

"  Surely,"  cried  Bulder,  "  you  are  not  going  to  bring 
up  that  worn-out  argument?  Everybody  knows  that 
it  is  not  something  for  nothing.  .  .  .  Look  here,  my 
good  friend,"  said  he,  turning  to  me,  "  if  you  buy 
some  goods  and  pay  cash  you  expect  a  discount  for 
paying  cash,  don't  you?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  replied  hesitatingly. 

''Surely  you  do!  And  if  you  didn't  get  the  dis- 
count for  cash,  you  would  take  all  the  credit  you  could, 
wouldn't  you?  .  .  .  Very  well,"  he  continued,  with- 
out waiting  for  a  reply,  "  that's  what  our  stamps  will 


158       Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

do.  They  are  not  something  for  nothing.  They  are 
merely  a  discount  for  cash.  People  that  don't  pay 
cash  don't  get  the  stamps.  .  .  ." 

Then  he  went  on  to  tell  me  about  some  stores  which 
had  changed  from  a  credit  basis  to  cash  through  the 
use  of  Garter  stamps.  In  my  imagination  I  saw  Fel- 
lows being  driven  into  a  corner  by  Bulder's  bludgeon, 
his  rapier  beaten  down  and  his  defenses  gone. 

Fellows  kept  trying  to  work  a  word  in  edgewise, 
but  Bulder,  by  the  continued  force  of  his  words,  beat 
down  all  Fellows'  attempts  to  break  in.  Finally  Bul- 
der leaned  back  and  said : 

"  Surely  you  are  not  going  to  stick  to  your  foolish 
idea  that  trading  stamps  are  something  for  nothing. 
All  sensible  people  know  that  no  one  can  give  some- 
thing for  nothing  and  live,  and  I  trust  that  the  trading 
stamp  concerns  are  sensible  people.  It  is  merely  a 
cash  discount." 

"  Why  couldn't  I  give  a  cash  discount,  instead  ?  "  I 
asked  —  and  as  soon  as  I  said  it  I  was  sorry  I  had, 
because  I  noticed  a  look  of  annoyance  in  Fellows'  face. 

"  That  is  a  very  sensible  question,"  said  Bulder. 
"  Because  if  you  did  give  the  cash  discount  yourself 
it  would  be  so  trifling  that  the  people  would  not  realize 
it  was  of  any  advantage  to  them.  If  somebody  comes 
in  and  spends  a  dollar  with  you,  and  you  give  them  two 
cents  discount,  what  is  it  to  them?  It  is  nothing  at 
all !  But  if  you  give  them  trading  stamps,  those  have  a 
real  value  in  their  eyes." 

"  Then  why  couldn't  I  give  trading  stamps  of  my 
own  —  just  have  them  printed  and  give  them  out?" 

"  Because  every  trading  stamp  concern  in  the  coun- 
try could  beat  you  on  the  value  of  your  premiums. 


Trading  Stamps  159 

Think  of  the  tremendous  buying  power  that  we  have. 
It  would  be  absolutely  impossible  for  you  to  give  trad- 
ing stamps  of  your  own  and  have  any  chance  with 
competition.  Now,  I  don't  think  for  a  moment  that 
you  are  not  as  keen  a  business  man  as  the  next  fellow, 
but  the  big  concerns  realize  that  it  is  specialisation  that 
means  success,  and  we  have  simply  specialized  in  this 
one  branch  of  marketing  to  help  you  fellows  do  some- 
thing which  you  could  do  yourselves,  but  not  nearly 
so  effectively  or  cheaply  as  we  can.  Do  you  think  the 
big  department  stores  up  and  down  the  country  would 
have  trading  stamps  from  us  if  they  could  handle  them 
as  cheaply  themselves?  No,  of  course  not!" 

"  Well,"  here  broke  in  Fellows  quietly,  "  I  may  be 
mistaken,  but  I  believe  that  trading  stamps  are  an  out- 
growth of  inefficiency  and  laziness  on  the  part  of  retail 
merchants.  Of  course,  the  people  who  sell  trading 
stamps  get  value  for  their  money,  but  the  retailer  and 
the  consumer  both  pay  for  it.  The  retailer  pays  for 
it  by  losing,  let  us  say,  three  per  cent,  on  each  turn-over 
of  his  stock  investment.  Suppose  Mr.  Black  here 
turns  his  stock  over  five  times  a  year,  he  is  really  pay- 
ing fifteen  per  cent,  of  his  investment  to  you  people  for 
something  which  you  must  admit  is  not  exclusively  his. 
Do  you  think  it  is  possible  for  a  retail  merchant  to 
continue  that  and  live?  If  it  is,  he  might  spend  that 
fifteen  per  cent,  in  increasing  the  quality  of  his  store 
service  rather  than  to  pay  it  to  an  outside  organization 
to  supply  a  substitute  for  it.  One  thing  is  sure  —  no 
merchant  can  pay  fifteen  per  cent,  on  his  investment 
and  stand  that  expenditure  himself.  If  he  handles 
the  stamps,  why,  up  go  his  prices,  wherever  he  can  man- 
age it,  to  make  the  consumer  pay  for  them. 


160       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  1  am  sure  you  will  agree  with  me  that  in  the  end 
it  is  the  consumer  who  pays  the  freight.  This  whole 
proposition  looks  to  me  like  selling  a  man  a  sack  of 
flour,  and  then  making  him  pay  for  the  sack  of  flour 
and  a  half  dozen  collars  or  a  pair  of  suspenders  be- 
sides. He  doesn't  want  those  collars  or  suspenders, 
mind  you,  but  they  are  included  with  the  purchase  price, 
and,  whether  he  takes  them  or  not,  he  has  to  pay  for 
them." 

Bulder  leaned  back  with  a  patronizing  air.  "  My 
young  friend,"  he  said  to  Fellows,  "  you  talk  very  in- 
terestingly, but  the  things  you  say  are  mere  generali- 
ties. You  have  not  given  a  single  concrete  fact  show- 
ing where  the  trading  stamps  would  hurt  our  friend 
here,  while  I  have  already  given  Mr.  Black  a  number  of 
cases,  which  he  can  easily  verify  for  himself,  of  mer- 
chants who  have  improved  their  business  by  trading 
stamps. 

"  My  proposition  to  Mr.  Black  is  that  he  tries  the 
stamps  for  a  year,  and  if  he  does  not  find  " —  and 
here  he  tapped  the  table  impressively  with  his  fingers  — 
"if  he  does  not  find  that  they  have  actually  increased 
his  business,  why  then  we  will  call  the  deal  off.  We 
will  risk  —  gladly  risk  —  all  the  heavy  expenditures 
of  working  with  Mr.  Black.  We  will  risk  the  lost 
prestige  to  ourselves  of  having  a  dealer  give  up  our 
splendid  offer;  and  I  do  this,  Mr.  Fellows,  because 
I  know  from  past  experience  —  not  from  mere  theo- 
ries —  that  Garter  stamps  will  mean  an  increased  profit 
to  Mr.  Black." 

"  Would  you  supply  any  other  line  of  business  in 
this  town,  Mr.  Bulder?"  asked  Fellows  quietly. 

"  Certainly,  my  young  friend.     Because  by  doing  so 


Trading  Stamps  161 

it  would  help  Mr.  Black.  Don't  you  see  that,  if  one 
hardware  man,  and  one  druggist,  and  one  dry  goods 
store,  and  so  on,  had  our  stamps,  all  those  merchants 
would  be  in  a  class  by  themselves?  It  would  make 
them  the  leading  merchants  in  the  town,  for  people 
would  trade  with  them  so  that  they  could  collect  the 
Garter  stamps." 

"  I  see,"  returned  Fellows  quietly.  "  And  the  man 
who  gets  stamps  here  from  Mr.  Black  would  be  able 
to  buy,  let  us  say,  a  hat  or  some  china  ornaments 
through  you  people,  which  would,  incidentally,  deprive 
the  local  men's  furnishing  store  or  china  store  of  the 
sale  of  those  articles.  And,  of  course,  that  same  man 
might  get  trading  stamps  from  other  stores,  and  with 
those  stamps  he  could  buy  a  pocketknife  through  you 
people,  and  thus  take  the  sale  of  that  pocketknife 
away  from  Mr.  Black." 

Bulder  waved  the  question  aside  as  though  not 
worth  bothering  with.  "  My  dear  man,"  he  asserted, 
"  the  people  who  get  things  for  those  trading  stamps 
get  things  they  would  not  buy  otherwise.  That  is 
surely  a  very  trivial  contention." 

Fellows  looked  at  me  and  said : 

"  Black,  I  have  no  reason  to  take  any  more  of  yours 
or  Mr.  Bulder's  valuable  time,  as  I  see  nothing  else  to 
say  except  that  I  strongly  advise  against  the  adoption 
of  this  or  any  other  trading  stamp  or  profit-sharing 
scheme  which  you  do  not  control  yourself.  Of  course, 
a  few  merchants  in  a  town  can  get  together  and  run 
this  trading  stamp  system,  whereby  your  stamps  are 
accepted  for  cash  in  other  stores  and  other  stores' 
stamps  are  accepted  for  cash  in  your  own,  and  by  that 
system  there  might  possibly  be  some  benefit  in  the 


162       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

trading  stamps.  But  I  believe  that  any  merchant  who 
uses  trading  stamps  —  and  I  do  not  refer  to  your  ex- 
cellent company,  Mr.  Bulder  —  is  merely  building  up 
business  for  some  outside  organization.  He  is  merely 
diverting  some  of  his  own  profits  into  the  pockets  of 
the  trading  stamp  concerns,  which  do  not  really  build 
up  any  business  at  all;  because,  if  the  stamps  prove 
successful  for  one  merchant,  it  will  not  be  long  before 
other  merchants  take  them  up  and  then  every  one  is 
giving  profits  to  the  trading  stamp  concerns  without 
any  of  them  getting  any  real  benefit  from  it.  I  be- 
lieve the  use  of  trading  stamps  is  more  or  less  an  ad- 
mission of  inability  to  think  up  plans  of  getting  busi- 
ness for  oneself." 

Bulder  smiled.  He  was  once  again  the  acme  of 
courtesy. 

"  That  argument  of  yours  sounds  excellent,  Mr.  Fel- 
lows," he  said  suavely.  "  Excellent !  But  why  not 
apply  it  to  your  business?  Why  not  say  that  if  one 
merchant  advertises,  all  merchants  will  advertise  and 
thus  the  benefits  of  advertising  are  nullified?  " 

Fellows  was  once  again  beaten  down,  I  thought. 
He  was  plainly  stumped  for  a  few  seconds.  Then  he 
replied : 

"  There  is  something  in  what  you  say,  Mr.  Bulder. 
But  with  trading  stamp  competition  every  one  is  offer- 
ing merely  trading  stamps.  There  is  no  particular 
difference  between  them,  and  one  offers  no  material 
advantage  over  another.  But  advertising  is  different. 
You  yourself  admit  that,  and  appreciate  the  benefits  of 
advertising,  for  in  your  own  printed  matter" — and 
here  he  held  some  of  it  up  — "  you  advise  the  merchant 
to  advertise  the  trading  stamp  proposition,  '  thus  '  " — 


Trading  Stamps  163 

he  quoted  from  a  folder  — "  '  tying  up  the  prestige  of 
the  Garter  trading  stamps  with  the  local  merchant's 
own  store.' 

"  Now,  while  in  trading  stamps  there  is  no  apparent 
difference,  with  advertising  one  can  express  one's  per- 
sonality and  character,  which  trading  stamps  never  do. 
There  are  so  many  wrays  in  which  one  may  advertise : 
newspapers,  billboards,  booklets,  form  letters,  street  car 
signs ;  and  you  can  make  your  advertising  such  that  it 
will  be  better  than  your  competitors'.  But  trading 
stamps  are  trading  stamps  and  nothing  more.  The 
story  of  advertising  is  as  varied  as  language  itself. 
With  advertising  you  can  vary  the  appeal  so  that  it 
always  has  a  freshness  which  trading  stamps  must  soon 
lose." 

Bulder  was  plainly  perturbed. 

"  I  claim,"  he  said  heavily,  "  just  the  same  distinc- 
tion, that  same  personality  —  why,  the  very  dress  of 
our  trading  stamps  is  an  advertisement,  just  as  is  the 
design  on  those  Kleen-Kut  tools  I  see  displayed  there. 
They  are  well-known,  they  are  recognized  by  the  trade- 
mark, and  that  is  their  individuality.  Our  trading 
stamp  has  the  same  individuality  —  it  has  our  peculiar 
design  and  trademark." 

"  I  am  unconvinced,"  said  Fellows,  shaking  his  head 
with  finality.  "  Your  arguments  sound  excellent,  but 
the  fact  remains  that  once  a  dealer  takes  on  trading 
stamps  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  get  rid  of  them.  Peo- 
ple come  in  and  ask  for  the  stamps  — " 

"  Good  night !  "  I  thought.  Bulder  was  quick  to  re- 
spond. 

"Of  course  they  come  and  ask  for  the  stamps.  And 
if  we  offer  these  stamps  to  other  dealers,  and  then 


164      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

people  come  to  Mr.  Black  and  ask  him  for  them,  and 
find  he  doesn't  have  them,  won't  that  hurt  Mr.  Black  ? 
Won't  they  say  that  Mr.  Black  isn't  as  progressive  as 
other  people?  If  the  people  demand  trading  stamps, 
it  is  up  to  Mr.  Black  to  give  them,  for,  if  he  is  not 
progressive  enough  to  do  so,  he  will  drive  them  to  some 
other  store." 

"  I  take  strong  exception  to  your  words,"  said  Fel- 
lows evenly.  "  I  don't  appreciate  your  slur  on  the 
'  progressiveness  '  of  my  —  of  Mr.  Black." 

"  I  beg  Mr.  Black's  pardon.  I  spoke  hastily.  But 
you  must  admit,  Mr.  Black,  that  the  unreasonableness 
of  your  friend  is  exasperating." 

Fellows  ignored  the  last  remark.  Apparently  to  no 
one,  he  mused : 

"  I  remember  in  the  little  town  of  Wake  ford  some 
of  the  merchants  there  got  this  trading  stamp  '  bug.' 
First  one  got  it,  then  another,  and  then  they  were  all 
giving  trading  stamps  —  that  is,  all  those  who  did  any 
real  business.  And  then  one  of  them  thought  he 
would  steal  a  march  on  the  others,  and  began  giving 
double  trading  stamps  on  Saturday.  In  two  weeks 
they  were  all  giving  double  trading  stamps  on  Satur- 
day. It  has  got  so  now  that  they  are  giving  double 
stamps  every  Friday  and  triple  stamps  on  Saturday! 
I  suppose  before  long  they'll  be  all  giving  double 
stamps  every  day  of  the  week.  Pretty  tough  on  those 
merchants,  isn't  it?" 

Bulder  looked  at  Fellows  with  some  amazement  in 
his  face,  for  Fellows'  remarks  were  not  apparently  ad- 
dressed to  either  of  us;  he  was  gazing  through  the 
window  of  the  door  leading  into  the  store. 

"  Pretty  tough  on  those  merchants,"  Fellows  contin- 


Trading  Stamps  165 

ued,  "  because,  when  they  give  double  trading  stamps, 
they  increase  their  percentage  of  cost  on  their  capital 
from  15  to  30  per  cent,  assuming  they  have  a  5  times 
turnover.  Of  course  it's  all  right  for  the  trading 
stamp  concerns,  because  the  more  stamps  that  are  sold, 
the  more  profit  they  make. 

"  By  the  way,  Mr.  Bulder,  do  you  sell  stamps  in 
Wakeford?" 

"  Why,  yes,  we  do  sell  some,"  was  the  reluctant  re- 
sponse. 

I  saw  the  point  at  once,  and  instantly  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  would  not  take  the  chance  of  being  drawn 
into  a  war  of  giving  trading  stamps  away  in  competi- 
tion with  other  stores,  and  I  quietly  told  Bulder  that 
we  were  merely  wasting  time  now,  that  I  had  definitely 
decided  not  to  touch  the  proposition  at  all. 

Bulder  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  I  am  sorry  that 
you  let  this  opportunity  go  by.  But  please  don't  come 
to  us  in  a  few  months'  time  and  ask  to  do  business 
with  us,  for  we  shall  unquestionably  close  with  some 
other  hardware  store  before  I  leave  town  to-day." 

He  was  once  more  the  suave  and  polished  man  of 
the  world.  He  shook  hands  pleasantly  with  us, 
cracked  a  joke  or  two,  and  left  the  store,  apparently  in 
the  best  of  humor. 

Hardly  had  he  gone  out  when  Fellows  went  to  the 
telephone  and  called  up  Mr.  Barlow.  I  don't  know 
what  Barlow  said,  but  I  heard  Fellows  say : 

"  This  is  Fellows  of  the  Flaxon  Advertising  Agency. 
I  am  at  Dawson  Black's.  We  have  just  had  the  Gar- 
ter Trading  Stamp  man  here.  You  knew  that  Black 
was  thinking  of  taking  up  the  trading  stamp  proposi- 
tion. Well,  he  has  turned  it  down  cold.  I  thought 


166       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

you  might  like  to  know,  in  case  they  came  to  you  with 
a  different  story." 

There  was  a  meeting  of  the  Merchants'  Association 
that  evening  —  I  didn't  tell  you  that  I  had  joined 
sometime  before.  As  I  entered  the  meeting  room, 
Barlow  came  to  me  and  told  me  that  Bulder  had  been 
to  see  him,  and  had  told  him  that  I  was  interested  in 
his  proposition  but  he  felt  that  Barlow  would  be  the 
better  man  for  "them  to  work  with. 

Barlow  brought  the  matter  of  trading  stamps  up  for 
discussion  at  the  meeting,  and  it  was  decided  that  no 
member  of  the  association  should  handle  them. 

"  What  would  we  do  if  some  merchants  in  the  town, 
who  are  not  members  of  the  association,  should  take 
them  on  ?  "  I  asked. 

I  saw  a  twinkle  in  Barlow's  eye,  for  he  knew  I  was 
thinking  of  Stigler,  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  or- 
ganization. 

"  I  should  think,"  said  Wimple,  who  was  the  presi- 
dent, "  that  we  had  better  not  try  to  cross  that  bridge 
until  we  come  to  it.  The  leading  merchants  belong  to 
the  association,  and  I  question  very  much  whether  the 
fact  that  some  small  store  might  handle  the  stamps 
would  have  any  effect  upon  us,  one  way  or  the  other." 

I  hoped  and  believed  that  we  had  killed  trading 
stamps  so  far  as  our  town  was  concerned,  but  I  deter- 
mined that,  if  ever  the  question  was  to  come  up  again, 
through  some  of  the  others  taking  up  stamps,  I  would 
suggest  that  idea  of  Fellows',  that  we  form  a  trading 
stamp  organization  of  our  own,  which  the  association 
could  run.  In  other  words,  the  Merchants'  Associa- 
tion would  be  the  trading  stamp  concern,  and  so  we 
would  have  any  benefits  coming  from  it  ourselves. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

PREPARING    FOR    THE    BATTLE 

As  soon  as  possible,  I  visited  the  landlords  of  all  the 
empty  stores  in  town,  and  contracted  to  rent  the  win- 
dows in  seven  of  them  for  two  weeks  beginning  the 
first  of  October. 

Two  of  the  stores  I  couldn't  get  because  they  had 
been  rented  for  the  first  of  October ;  one  I  didn't  go  to 
at  all  because  I  remembered,  fortunately,  in  time,  that 
the  landlord  was  a  friend  of  Stigler's.  If  I  had  told 
him  what  I  wanted,  the  probabilities  were  that  Stigler 
would  have  got  wind  of  it  and  he  would  somehow  have 
got  ahead  of  me. 

The  total  expense  was  less  than  twenty  dollars. 
Two  stores  I  got  for  nothing,  and  I  found  out  that 
Barlow  owned  them.  The  old  brick  had  told  his  agent 
to  let  me  have  them  for  two  weeks  without  any  cost. 
Traglio,  the  druggist,  let  me  have  the  vacant  store  next 
door  to  him,  which  he  owned,  for  $2.00  a  week,  on 
the  understanding  that  I  would  not  display  any  toilet 
articles,  and  that  I  would  put  a  card  in  the  window,  at 
my  own  expense,  reading :  "  For  toilet  articles  of  all 
kinds  go  to  Traglio's."  I  didn't  think  that  would  hurt 
me  any,  so  I  promised  to  do  it.  It  cost  me  $12.00  for 
the  old  Bon  Marche  store,  but  that  was  right  opposite 
the  post  office,  and  I  thought  it  well  worth  the  money, 
because  everybody  in  town  would  see  the  displays 

167 


168      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

there.  Besides,  they  were  big  windows.  It  had  been 
a  prosperous  store,  but  Waldron,  who  ran  it,  had  lost 
his  money  in  a  big  Providence  bank  failure. 

When  I  had  got  it  all  done  the  question  came  to  me, 
What  am  I  going  to  do  for  stock?  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  put  a  lot  of  stock  in  those  windows  to  make  a 
real  display  and  still  have  left  in  the  store  any  of  the 
lines  to  sell.  I  worried  over  this  for  some  time,  and 
then  I  wrote  to  Hersom,  the  salesman  for  Bates  & 
Hotchkin  of  Boston,  the  jobbers  from  whom  I  bought 
the  bulk  of  my  general  supplies,  and  told  him  about 
my  plan,  and  asked  him  if  he  could  help  me  out.  They 
were  pretty  decent  people,  and  while  I  had  to  pay  a 
fraction  more  for  the  majority  of  the  goods  than  if  I 
had  bought  from  the  manufacturer  it  was  well  worth 
it  to  me,  for  they  looked  after  me  well.  As  Hersom 
had  told  me,  the  last  time  he  had  called,  "  We  certainly 
will  do  all  we  can  for  you,  because  you  give  us  the 
bulk  of  your  business."  .  .  . 

Coincidences  do  happen  even  in  a  little  town.  The 
electric  light  company  had  been  making  a  big  campaign 
in  the  town,  advocating  the  use  of  electricity  for  light- 
ing, cooking,  ironing,  etc.  The  advertising  certainly 
had  made  the  gas  company  sit  up  and  take  notice,  for 
they  had  offered  to  wire  houses  for  a  ridiculously  small 
amount,  with  easy  terms  of  payment,  and  in  a  large 
percentage  of  the  houses  they  had  begun  to  use  elec- 
tricity instead  of  gas.  For  some  time  I  had  been 
thinking  of  taking  advantage  of  this  fact,  and  putting 
in  a  stock  of  electric  toasters  and  grills,  perhaps  an 
electric  fan  or  so,  and  a  few  electrical  devices  like  that. 

Well,  I  happened  to  meet  Mrs.  Twombley  in  the 
street.  Mrs.  Twombley  was  a  close  friend  of  the  Ma- 


Preparing  for  the  Battle  169 

ter's.  She  was  a  widow,  like  Mater,  and  they  had  been 
schoolgirls  together,  and  Mrs.  Twombley  had  been 
one  of  the  episodes  of  my  father's  period  of  calf  love. 
Mrs.  Twombley  was  a  big,  plump,  jolly-looking 
woman,  well  to  do,  and  she  was  quite  fond  of  me.  The 
last  time  she  had  been  at  the  house  she  had  said  to 
the  Mater,  as  she  rumpled  my  hair  —  she  did  that 
every  time  she  came  because  she  knew  I  didn't  like  it  — 
"  It  was  just  nip  and  tuck  as  to  whether  I  would  have 
been  Dawson's  mother,  wasn't  it?  " 

She  was  passing  on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  and, 
seeing  me,  she  frantically  waved  her  umbrella  at  me  — 
she  always  carried  an  umbrella,  whatever  the  weather 
might  be.  I  went  across  to  her,  and  she  told  me  she 
wanted  a  dozen  kitchen  knives. 

"  I  don't  know  what  Lucy  does  with  them,"  she  said. 
"  I  think  she  must  be  engaged  to  a  sword  swallower 
and  he  is  practicing  with  my  knives." 

Then  she  added :  "  By  the  way,  Dawson,  I  have 
never  asked  you  to  do  anything  for  me,  have  I  ?  " 

"  No,"  I  replied,  wondering  what  she  meant. 

"  Well,  young  man,  I  am  going  to  make  a  suggestion 
to  you  that  may  cost  you  a  few  dollars.  Our  fair  for 
Foreign  Missions  takes  place,  as  you  know,  next 
month,  and  you  are  going  to  help  us  out." 

"In  what  way?" 

"  Bless  the  boy,  I  don't  know !  Look  around  your 
store  and  see  if  there  isn't  something  you  don't  want; 
or  else  send  some  things  up  and  give  us  a  commission 
for  selling  them.  See  what  you  can  do  about  it." 
And  she  bustled  off  without  waiting  for  an  answer. 

And  now  for  the  coincidence.  When  I  got  back  to 
the  store  there  was  an  unusually  smart-looking  chap 


170       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

waiting  to  see  me.  It  seemed  he  represented  the  At- 
lantic Electric  Appliance  Corporation,  and  they  wanted 
me  to  take  the  agency  for  their  full  line  of  electric  ap- 
pliances. 

"  Your  line  is  a  good  thing,  I'm  sure,"  I  said  to 
him  —  Wilkshire  was  his  name  — "  but,  candidly,  I 
couldn't  afford  to  put  in  a  full  supply  of  those  things, 
although  I  was  thinking  of  starting  with  a  few  toasters 
and  one  or  two  things  of  that  kind." 

"  I  can  understand,  Mr.  Black,"  was  his  response, 
"  that  you  couldn't  very  well  carry  the  whole  line  that 
we  have,  unless  we  worked  with  you  on  it.  We  believe 
there's  a  big  field  in  Farmdale  for  electric  appliances 
—  better  than  usual  on  account  of  what  the  electric 
light  company's  doing  to  boost  things. 

"  Our  proposition  is  this:  If  you  will  make  a  spe- 
cial display  of  electrical  appliances  for  a  week  we'll 
supply  you  with  a  full  line  of  our  goods,  we'll  send  a 
demonstrator  to  show  how  they  are  worked,  and  we 
will  go  fifty-fifty  on  any  advertising  you  care  to  do 
during  that  time. 

"  When  the  demonstration  is  over,  go  ahead  and 
stock  up  what  you  think  is  necessary,  and  we'll  under- 
take to  supply  you  with  additional  stock  on  twenty- 
four  hours'  time.  You  are  not  such  a  great  way  from 
Hartford" — that  was  their  headquarters — "and,  if 
you  order  one  day,  you  can  have  the  goods  right  here 
within  forty-eight  hours  at  the  latest." 

Just  then  the  telephone  bell  rang.  Larsen  answered 
it,  and  I  heard  him  say : 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Twombley,  he's  back.     I'll  tell  him." 

I  went  to  the  'phone,  and  she  wanted  me  to  be  sure 
not  to  forget  about  helping  them  out  at  the  fair. 


Preparing  for  the  Battle  171 

"  Remember,"  she  reminded  me,  "  it  starts  Tuesday, 
the  twelfth  of  October,  and  ends  the  Saturday  follow- 
ing." 

"  Mrs.  Twombley,"  I  replied,  "  an  idea  has  come  to 
me.  How  would  you  like  me  to  supply  you  with  an 
electrical  exhibition  ?  " 

"  Bless  the  boy !     What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  How  would  you  like  me  to  make  a  display  up  there 
of  all  kinds  of  electrical  appliances,  with  some  pretty 
girls  to  show  everybody  how  they  work  and  what  they 
will  do?" 

"  That  would  be  splendid !  But  there's  no  electricity 
in  the  town  hall." 

"  But  suppose  I  can  get  electric  current  run  in  there 
specially,  what  then  ?  " 

"  My !  don't  disrupt  the  town  management  on  my 
account  —  but  do  it  if  you  can." 

"  All  right.     I  think  I  can  do  it  for  you." 

Well,  I  talked  to  Mr.  Wilkshire,  and  told  him  my 
idea,  and  he  thought  it  was  a  good  one,  and  said  he 
would  personally  go  and  see  the  electric  light  company, 
because  he  was  accustomed  to  dealing  with  that  kind 
of  people,  and  make  arrangements  to  have  wires  car- 
ried into  the  town  hall  for  the  exhibition. 

He  agreed  to  supply  all  the  equipment  needed  and 
to  send  two  demonstrators  from  Hartford  during  the 
five  days  of  the  fair,  and  that  was  to  be  my  contribu- 
tion to  Mrs.  Twombley's  "  pet,"  as  she  called  foreign 
missions ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  I  would  be  introduc- 
ing a  new  line  of  merchandise,  under  the  very  best  of 
auspices,  to  the  people  of  Farmdale. 

When  I  talked  to  Betty  about  the  electrical  exhibi- 
tion she  suggested : 


172       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Why  not  carry  it  through  a  little  farther.     I  read 
a  lot  in  Hardware  Times  about  business  efficiency. 
Why  don't  you  try  to  get  efficiency  in  the  home  — 
give  an  exhibition  of  home  efficiency?  " 

I  guess  the  blank  expression  on  my  face  told  her  that 
I  didn't  follow  her  meaning. 

"  I  mean,"  she  said,  "  along  with  the  electrical  de- 
vices why  not  show  carpet  sweepers  and  time-saving 
kitchen  devices,  and  everything  that  will  help  the 
woman  of  the  house  to  greater  efficiency  in  her  work, 
or  give  her  better  results.  Make  a  big  exhibition,  and 
call  it  the  domestic  efficiency  exhibition." 

"  That's  not  a  bad  idea  at  all,"  I  replied.  I  thought 
a  little  while.  "  Not  a  bad  idea  at  all."  I  thought  a 
little  bit  longer.  "  It's  a  bully  good  idea !  "  And  I 
ran  right  off  to  call  up  Mrs.  Twombley. 

"  Mrs.  Twombley,"  I  cried,  quite  excited,  "  I'm 
going  to  do  that  thing  up  good  and  brown  for  you. 
I'm  going  to  make  it  a  household  efficiency  exhibition, 
and  we'll  have  vacuum  cleaners  and  carpet  sweepers 
and  washing  machines  and  kitchen  things  — 

"  Good  heavens  above !  "  her  voice  returned. 
"  Who  is  this  speaking,  what  is  he  speaking  about,  and 
has  he  got  the  right  party  ?  " 

When  I  explained  the  matter,  she  said : 

"  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,  but  I'll  leave  it  to  you  — ' 

"  Are  you  sure,"  asked  Betty,  when  I  came  back, 
"  that  the  electric-supply  people  will  agree  to  your  sell- 
ing other  things  there,  when  they  are  providing  the 
material  for  the  big  show  ?  " 

"  I  never  thought  of  that!  "  I  exclaimed.  "  I  guess 
they  won't !  No.  And  I  don't  think  now  it  would  be 
fair  to  them  to  do  it,  for,  if  I  want  to  sell  electrical 


Preparing  for  the  Battle  173 

supplies,  it  would  probably  be  better  not  to  spread  the 
attraction  over  too  many  things.  No,  I'll  confine  my- 
self just  to  electrical  supplies,  so  as  to  make  as  big  an 
impression  with  them  as  I  can,  concentrate  the  people's 
attention  right  on  them,  and  give  them  a  real  bang-up 
start-off. 

"  That  reminds  me,  Betty.  You  know  those  Sisk 
glass  percolators?  I'm  going  to  drop  them." 

"  Why,  I  thought  you  were  selling  so  many  of 
them!" 

"  Yes,  I  am,  but  I  got  a  letter  from  them  yesterday 
telling  me  that  the  discount  had  been  reduced  from 
40  to  25  per  cent.,  and  there's  nothing  doing  at  that 
price." 

"  I  wish  you  wouldn't  talk  such  slang." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  slang?  " 

"  Why,  *  nothing  doing.'  I  wish  you  would  learn  to 
cut  it  out.  There,"  she  said  vexedly,  "'  I'm  catching 
that  bad  habit  from  you !  " 

To  come  back  to  that  Sisk  percolator.  I  had  been 
handling  it  for  some  time  and  doing  a  good  business 
on  it,  when  a  letter  had  come  saying  that  on  and  after 
that  date  the  discount  for  Sisk  percolators  would  be 
reduced  to  25  per  cent.  As  it  was  costing  me  about 
25  per  cent,  to  do  business,  I  decided  not  to  handle 
them  after  I  got  rid  of  what  I  had,  and  I  wrote  them 
so  right  away.  You  see,  I  was  beginning  to  study  the 
relationship  of  profit  to  expense,  and,  unless  the  things 
I  sold  were  showing  me  a  profit,  either  directly  or  in- 
directly, there  was  nothing  doing  on  them  —  I  would 
not  bother  with  them  at  all.  I  had  told  the  Sisk  people 
that  perhaps  they  could  find  some  one  else  to  handle 
them  for  love  of  the  company,  but  that  I  would  not. 


174       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

My  letter  got  results,  and  got  them  quickly.  I  had 
a  nice  letter  from  them  stating  that  they  realized  that 
I  couldn't  handle  the  goods  unless  I  made  a  fair  profit 
on  them,  and  so  they  had  decided  to  increase  the  dis- 
count from  25  to  33  Yz  per  cent.  Since  they  were  will- 
ing to  come  up  on  the  discounts  I  was  quite  willing  to 
push  the  percolators,  and  I  wrote  them  and  told  them 
so,  and  sent  them  an  order  for  half  a  dozen  more  right 
away. 

In  the  same  mail  I  had  an  answer  from  Bates  & 
Hotchkin.  Hersom  was  out  of  town;  but  they  said 
they  were  glad  to  help  me  out,  and  would  send  me 
enough  stuff  to  fill  up  the  windows  and  have  some  left 
over  for  the  store,  and  would  I  please  let  them  know 
just  what  I  wanted  and  they  would  send  it  on  consign- 
ment right  away.  It  was  good  to  deal  with  a  concern 
that  would  go  out  of  its  way  to  do  you  favors. 

The  Mater  was  at  the  house  that  evening,  and  I  was 
telling  about  the  Sisk  percolator  matter.  Suddenly 
she  said : 

"  Really,  those  Sisk  persons  are  remarkably  clever, 
don't  you  know !  I  believe  it  was  their  plan  to  reduce 
the  discount  from  40  to  33 ]/$  per  cent.,  and  they  stud- 
ied the  psychology  of  the  matter  and  decided  that  — 
and  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me,  Dawson  —  that, 
had  they  merely  written,  in  the  first  place,  announcing 
that  the  discounts  were  reduced  from  40  to  33  >3  per 
cent.,  their  customers  would  feel  annoyed  at  the  reduc- 
tion of  their  profits.  But,  instead,  they  reduced  the 
discount  to  25  per  cent.,  unquestionably  with  the  pur- 
pose of  increasing  it  to  33 y$  per  cent.,  thus  leaving  with 
their  customers  the  impression  that  the  discounts  had 
been  increased  instead  of  reduced,  going  on  the  psy- 


Preparing  for  the  Battle  175 

chological  principle  that  the  last  impression  made  upon 
the  mind  is  the  strongest." 

Remarkably  clever,  I  thought !  I  believed  the  Mater 
was  right.  Because,  even  when  I  knew  it,  I  hadn't 
any  ill  feeling  against  the  company. 

It  was  very  keen  of  the  Mater  to  spot  it.  I  had 
never  suspected  she  was  so  shrewd. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

SELLING    ELECTRIC    APPLIANCES 

THE  Atlantic  Electric  Appliance  Corporation  fixed 
me  up  with  a  dandy  line  of  electrical  goods,  and  they 
sent  two  smart  young  girls  to  act  as  demonstrators. 

I  had  suggested  to  Wilkshire,  the  electric  appliance 
salesman,  that,  in  place  of  his  demonstrators,  we 
should  get  a  couple  of  local  girls  to  handle  the  demon- 
stration. "  People  will  know  them,"  I  said,  "  and 
they'll  feel  more  at  home  with  them." 

"  That  is  a  good  idea,  Mr.  Black,"  replied  Wilkshire. 
"  But  don't  you  think  that  a  strange  face  would  be  a 
little  more  attractive,  perhaps,  in  the  town?  Of  course 
you  know  best,  but  I  should  think  a  couple  of  smart- 
looking  girls  who  were  thoroughly  trained  in  demon- 
strating would  attract  more  attention  and  more  confi- 
dence, as  a  matter  of  fact,  than  local  girls  would.  You 
see,  if  some  of  you  society  folks  should  see  a  couple 
of  girls  that  they  know,  they  wouldn't  have  much  con- 
fidence in  what  they  said  about  electric  appliances ;  but 
they  will  listen  and  take  stock  in  what  a  stranger  will 
say  to  them." 

I  had  got  his  point  at  once,  and  agreed  with  him 
that  it  would  be  best  to  have  outsiders  do  the  demon- 
strating. 

Larsen  was  always  a  pretty  shrewd  observer.  When 
Wilkshire  left  the  store,  he  said  to  me : 

"  Boss,  I  learned  something  from  that  feller." 

176 


Selling  Electric  Appliances  177 

"  Huh,"  I  returned.  "  I  guess  he  could  teach  us 
something  at  that.  Still,  our  problems  in  selling  to  the 
consumer  are  quite  different  from  his  in  selling  to  the 
trade." 

"  The  same  in  lots  of  ways,"  Larsen  remarked. 
"  Did  you  notice,  Boss,  he  never  say  you  were  wrong? 
He  always  say  you  right  and  then  say  something 
else  better.  'Member  it  when  you  talk  about  them 
girls." 

"  That  was  clever,  wasn't  it  ?  "  I  exclaimed.  I  had 
not  noticed  it  until  Larsen  pointed  it  out.  In  fact,  I 
had  been  rather  under  the  impression  that  I  had  had 
things  pretty  much  my  own  way  with  him,  but  when  I 
looked  back  at  our  whole  conversation  I  saw  that  Wilk- 
shire  won  his  own  way  right  along  the  line. 

"  Say,  that  was  fine !  "  I  said,  again.  "  We'll  have 
to  adopt  that  plan  right  here  in  the  store,  and  make  it 
a  rule  always  to  agree  with  what  the  customer  suggests, 
tell  them  it  is  a  good  idea,  even  if  it's  punk,  and  then 
kind  of  lead  'em  around  to  doing  what  we  think  they 
ought  to  do !  " 

"  Yes,"  joined  in  Larsen,  "  just  like  he  — "  here  he 
stopped  in  embarrassment,  so  I  finished  his  sentence 
for  him  — 

"  Just  like  Wilkshire  did  with  me !  " 

"  Oh,  well,  you  know  what  I  mean,  Boss." 

Well,  to  get  back  to  the  exhibition  —  it  proved  to  be 
the  feature  of  the  fair.  Those  demonstrators  were 
two  of  the  smartest  girls  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.  Betty 
got  a  bit  jealous,  and  said  I  was  giving  too  much  at- 
tention to  the  electrical  exhibition ! 

Here's  what  we  sold  at  the  exhibition  during  the 
week: 


178       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

One  electric  clothes  washer,  38  electric  toasters,  n 
chafing  dishes,  14  electric  coffee  percolators,  i  electric 
curling  iron,  n  electric  water  heaters,  3  electric  vac- 
uum cleaners  and  4  electric  grills.  Besides  this,  there 
were  half  a  dozen  odd  items. 

You  ought  to  have  seen  those  girls  sell  the  water 
heaters.  The  device  was  a  little  affair  about  the  size 
of  a  pencil.  The  idea  was  to  put  it  in  a  glass  of  water, 
turn  on  the  current,  and  it  heated  the  water  very 
quickly.  They  sold  those  to  women  to  give  for  Christ- 
mas presents  to  their  husbands  —  hot  water  to  shave 
with  in  the  morning,  you  know.  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  stock  a  lot  of  those  —  I  thought  it  was  a  good  idea. 
People  were  most  curious  about  it  —  it  was  such  a 
novelty,  and  many  who  stopped  to  look  remained  to 
buy. 

It  had  puzzled  me  for  a  while  to  know  why  they  had 
sold  so  many  of  the  toasters  and  chafing  dishes  and 
coffee  percolators,  until  I  realized  it  was  because  those 
were  demonstrated  more  than  the  others.  Everybody 
who  came  was  offered  a  delicious  cup  of  coffee.  Wilk- 
shire  told  me  that  they  spared  no  expense  to  get  the 
choicest  coffee  possible.  They  put  in  just  the  right 
amount  of  sugar  to  suit  each  one,  and  used  thick,  rich 
cream.  People  would  exclaim :  "  What  delicious 
coffee  this  is!  "  and  the  girls  would  smile  sweetly  and 
respond :  "  Yes,  madam,  it  was  made  with  this  elec- 
tric percolator.  It  does  make  such  splendid  coffee." 
They  gave  the  percolator  all  the  credit  for  it,  although 
of  course  the  fine  grade  of  coffee  and  the  rich  cream 
were  responsible  for  a  good  part  of  it. 

And  then,  with  the  toaster,  they  had  fine  brown 
toast,  crispy  and  piping  hot;  and  the  girl  in  charge 


THE  GIRL  IN  CHARGE  WOULD  LOOK  UP  SWEETLY 


Selling  Electric  Appliances  179 

would  look  up  sweetly  and  ask :  "  Do  you  prefer  fresh 
or  salted  butter  ?  "  Such  splendid  butter  it  was,  too, 
and  they  spread  it  on  good  and  thick,  and  that  toast 
was  really  enjoyed.  It  certainly  sold  the  toasters. 

And  the  other  girl  was  a  past  mistress  in  the  art  of 
making  Welsh  rarebit.  When  old  Wimple  tasted  it, 
he  said:  "That's  the  finest  Welsh  rarebit  I'll  ever 
taste  this  side  of  Heaven !  " 

"  Are  you  married  yet,  sir?  "  asked  the  girl. 

Married  yet!  —  and  he  was  sixty-five  if  he  was  a 
day! 

"  You  bet  I  am !  "  he  responded,  vigorously.  "  I  got 
a  daughter  as  old  as  you." 

"  Well,  your  wife  will  be  able  to  make  you  Welsh 
rarebits  like  this  every  day,  with  this  electric  chafing 
dish.  In  fact,  with  her  ability  to  cook  and  this  chafing 
dish,  you'll  have  a  combination  which  ought  to  result 
in  much  better  Welsh  rarebit  than  this." 

And  old  Wimple  carried  home  the  chafing  dish  to  his 
wife.  That  minx  was  certainly  shrewd ! 

It  had  been  a  revelation  to  me  to  see  how  much 
easier  it  was  to  sell  anything  when  you  demonstrated 
the  article  in  actual  use.  I  planned  to  do  more  demon- 
stration work  in  the  store  thereafter.  Wilkshire  told 
me  it  was  an  excellent  thing  to  demonstrate  whenever 
one  had  an  opportunity  — "  and,"  said  he,  "  let  the  cus- 
tomer do  the  thing  for  himself  wherever  you  can,  and 
he'll  feel  so  pleased  with  himself  that  he's  pretty  likely 
to  buy." 

What  was  more  to  the  point  was  that  everybody  in 
Farmdale  had  learned  that  Dawson  Black  stocked  elec- 
trical supplies. 

I  mustn't  forget  about  those  seven  store  windows 


180       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

which  I  had  hired  and  trimmed.  It  set  the  whole  town 
talking;  and  the  funny  part  of  it  was  that  many  people 
seemed  to  think  I  was  opening  new  stores  all  over  the 
place.  The  first  inkling  I  got  of  this  was  when 
Blickens,  the  president  of  the  bank,  dropped  in,  and 
said :  "  Young  man,  what's  this  talk  I  hear  about 
your  opening  new  stores  ?  " 

I  told  him  and  that  seemed  to  reassure  him.  "  Just 
the  same,"  he  asked,  "  that's  pretty  expensive,  isn't 
it?" 

"  Well,  if  you  call  $20.00  expensive  for  two  weeks' 
display  in  seven  windows,  yes,  but  I  think  it's  remark- 
ably cheap." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  that's  all  it  has  cost 
you?" 

"  That's  all." 

"  Well,  I  congratulate  you."  And  he  left  the  store. 
I  think  his  opinion  of  me  was  a  few  notches  higher, 

Stigler  opened  up  his  new  store  on  schedule  time, 
and  I  had  to  admit  that  he  had  a  splendid  window  dis- 
play. He  had  hired  a  professional  window  trimmer 
from  a  Providence  department  store  to  come  up  and 
trim  the  windows  for  him,  and  he  had  done  a  swell 
job.  He  had  the  window  full  of  all  kinds  of  kitchen 
goods,  everything  ten  cents.  He  even  had  a  line  of  tin 
buckets,  which  I  knew  cost  him  more  than  that. 

I  was  looking  the  place  over  from  my  own  store  — 
you  know  it  was  right  next  door  to  me, —  I  was  out  on 
the  doorstep,  looking  at  his  window,  when  I  saw  Stig- 
ler walking  toward  the  door.  My  first  impulse  was  to 
turn  away,  but  I  realized  that,  if  I  did,  he  would  think 
I  was  spying  on  him,  so  I  held  my  ground. 

"  Well,  Neighbor,"  he  said  with  his  usual  sneer,  when 


Selling  Electric  Appliances  181 

he  came  outside,  "  havin'  a  look  at  what  a  real  store 
looks  like  for  a  change?  " 

Now,  ordinarily  my  impulse  would  have  been  to  get 
mad,  but  that  time  for  some  reason  or  other  I  didn't. 
Instead,  I  said  calmly : 

"  I  was  just  thinking,  Friend  Stigler,  what  a  remark- 
able philanthropist  you  are." 

"  Good  value,  eh  ?  "  he  returned,  sneeringly. 

"  Excellent,"  I  replied ;  "  in  fact,  I'm  thinking  of 
hiring  a  lot  of  women  to  go  in  and  buy  some  of  your 
things  for  ten  cents  and  put  'em  in  my  store  to  sell 
over  for  a  quarter." 

I  saw  a  shrewd  expression  pass  over  his  face. 

"  Huh,  if  you'd  only  buy  right,  you  could  sell  right 
yourself." 

"  Exactly  what  I  think,"  I  laughed.  "  Say,  Stigler, 
you  make  me  smile.  Do  you  think  you'll  be  able  to  get 
away  with  that  kind  of  stuff  for  long?  They'll  come 
and  buy  your  under-cost  goods,  but  they  won't  buy  the 
rest."  ' 

Stigler  turned  sharply  until  he  directly  faced  me. 
His  features  were  distorted  and  twitching  with  rage 
and  his  face  was  pasty  white.  What  he  said  would 
have  cost  him  a  big  fine  if  he  had  been  working  for  me ! 
And  I  laughed  in  his  face,  and  turned  and  walked 
away. 

I  learned  something  really  valuable  then.  I  learned 
that,  by  keeping  my  own  temper,  I  made  the  other 
fellow  lose  his;  and  for  the  first  time  I  realized  that 
Stigler  was  probably  more  worried  over  my  competi- 
tion than  I  was  over  his. 

Somehow  I  had  always  had  the  idea  that  I  was  the 
one  to  do  the  worrying  and  not  he,  but  from  that  time 


182       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

on  I  began  to  feel  that  it  was  the  other  way  round.  I 
remembered  reading  in  a  magazine  a  little  article  —  I 
think  it  was  by  Elbert  Hubbard  —  in  which  it  was  said 
that,  when  you're  running  a  race,  and  are  getting  tired, 
don't  get  discouraged,  because  the  other  fellow  is  prob- 
ably even  more  tired  than  you  are.  I  believed  it  was 
the  same  in  a  business  race,  too. 

One  thing  was  certain.  My  big  displays  in  the 
seven  windows  and  my  exhibition  at  the  fair  had 
thrown  Stigler's  opening  into  the  shade.  A  number 
of  people  had  come  in  to  buy  goods  they'd  seen  dis- 
played in  the  different  windows  —  I  had  put  different 
goods  in  each  window  so  far  as  possible  —  and  it  had 
been  good  advertising  —  it  had  made  people  think  of 
my  store. 

I  dropped  in  to  see  Barlow  and  told  him  all  about  it, 
and  he  said,  "  Good  work  —  now  go  after  his  scalp 
good  and  hard.  Drive  on  just  as  you  are  doing,  push 
the  better-class  merchandise,  give  people  reasons  why 
they  should  buy  it,  tell  them  how  much  cheaper  it  is  in 
the  end,  and  you'll  win  out." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

FIRE AND    NO    INSURANCE 

I  WENT  to  bed  early  that  night,  and  by  9 130  I  was 
asleep. 

I  was  dreaming  about  a  new  advertising  scheme 
wherein  I  had  copied  the  old  town  crier  plan  by  having 
a  man  go  about  the  town  ringing  a  bell  and  then  calling 
out,  "  Dawson  Black's  hardware  store  for  goods  of 
quality !  " —  only,  instead  of  giving  him  an  ordinary 
bell,  I  had  given  him  a  big  electric  bell  operated  by  a 
battery,  which  he  carried  in  his  pocket  and  which  he 
rang  every  so  often;  and  then  in  my  dream  the  bell 
had  started  to  ring  and  he  couldn't  stop  it.  I  tried  to 
get  away  from  the  sound  of  that  incessant  ringing,  and 
I  started  to  run  away,  but  the  crier  followed  me  and 
the  sound  of  the  bell  kept  growing  louder  and  louder 
in  my  ear.  Suddenly  he  overtook  me  and  grabbed  me 
by  the  shoulder  and  shook  me.  Then  I  heard  Betty's 
voice  saying,  "  Can't  you  hear  the  telephone  bell  ring- 
ing, Dawson  ?  " 

Sure  enough,  it  was  the  telephone  bell.  I  got  sleep- 
ily out  of  bed  and  went  over  to  the  telephone.  When 
I  picked  up  the  receiver,  a  voice  asked : 

"  Is  that  you,  Mr.  Black  ?  Well,  come  down  at 
once ;  there's  a  fire  in  your  store !  "  and  with  a  click  the 
receiver  went  into  place. 

My  heart  leaped  up  in  my  throat.  I  was  fully  awake 
in  an  instant.  I  gasped  out  to  Betty  that  the  store  was 

183 


184      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

afire,  and  hastily  put  on  some  clothes,  wild  thoughts 
scurrying  through  my  mind.  And  the  thought  which 
pounded  at  me  most  was  that  I  had  no  insurance !  The 
stock  had  been  covered  when  I  took  over  the  store, 
but  about  three  weeks  before  I  had  received  a  letter 
from  the  insurance  agents  in  Boston  that  the  policies 
would  expire  in  two  weeks.  I  had  intended  to  have 
the  insurance  renewed  through  Pelton  —  we  used  to  be 
chums,  and  he  was  an  insurance  agent  in  town  —  and  I 
had  written  the  Boston  agents  so,  and  told  them  not  to 
renew  the  policies  when  they  expired.  Something  had 
come  up  that  made  me  put  off  telephoning  to  Pelton, 
and  I  had  let  it  go  for  a  couple  of  days,  and  then  I  had 
forgotten  it  altogether ! 

I  didn't  waste  a  second  but  rushed  frantically  down 
the  street  to  the  store  and  there  was  a  big  blaze  in  the 
rear.  The  firemen  had  beaten  down  the  front  door 
and  several  of  them  were  in  the  store,  while  two  others, 
with  the  hose,  were  at  the  rear  of  the  store.  Dense 
clouds  of  smoke  arose,  and  every  now  and  then  I  saw 
a  tongue  of  flame  shoot  out  from  one  of  the  windows 
in  the  back  of  the  store. 

When  I  rushed  into  the  back  yard,  the  fire  chief 
was  there  —  dear,  kindly,  old  Jerry  O'Toole.  He 
grabbed  me  by  the  arm,  saying  soothingly : 

"  It's  all  right,  son ;  more  smoke  than  fire." 

In  fifteen  minutes  the  firemen  were  all  through. 
The  fire  had  burned  through  the  back  door,  but  hadn't 
time  to  get  much  headway  inside  the  store. 

That  Friday  we  had  unpacked  four  cases  of  elec- 
trical goods,  and  we  had  put  the  cases  into  the  back 
yard,  stuffing  the  excelsior  into  them.  Some  of  it, 
however,  had  been  strewn  about  the  yard.  I  remem- 


Fire  —  and  no  Insurance  185 

bered  I  had  told  Larsen  on  Saturday  that  we  ought  to 
clean  that  up,  but  evidently  in  the  rush  of  Saturday 
he  either  hadn't  time  or  had  forgotten  it.  It  was 
this  excelsior  which  had  started  to  burn  first. 

When  the  smoke  had  cleared  away  and  I  had  got 
into  the  store  I  collapsed.  All  my  strength  left  me, 
my  knees  gave  way,  and  I  sank  into  the  chair  in  my 
little  office. 

"  My  God,  what  a  narrow  escape !  "  I  cried. 

Jerry  O'Toole  was  with  me.  "  You  bet  it  was,"  he 
said.  "If  one  of  my  boys  hadn't  a'bin  passin'  and 
seed  the  flame  back  there,  it  would  have  got  a  good 
hold  before  we  could  a'  got  here." 

"  I  wonder  how  it  caught  fire,"  I  said. 

"  You  can  never  tell.  I  was  asking  your  neighbor 
if  he'd  seed  any  one  around  back,  but  he  said  no." 

"My  neighbor?" 

"  Sure,  the  feller  that  opened  the  new  5-  and  lo-cent 
store  —  Stigler." 

"What!     Stigler!!" 

"  Yes,  he  was  here  when  I  got  here,  a'  watching  the 
fire.  You  don't  seem  to  like  him  any  better'n  he  likes 
you!" 

"Why?" 

"  Oh,  when  I  asked  him  if  he'd  seed  any  one  'round, 
he  said,  '  No,  but  he  deserves  to  have  his  place  set  afire 
if  he  goes  a'leavin'  excelsior  all  over  the  back  yard.' ' 

"  Oh !  "     And  I  thought  to  myself,  "  I  wonder  ?  " 

Betty  had  arrived  at  the  store  about  the  time  the  fire 
was  out.  She,  poor  girl,  was  almost  hysterical. 
O'Toole  put  us  into  his  automobile  after  we  had  nailed 
things  up  and  drove  us  home,  but  we  didn't  sleep  much, 
you  can  be  sure. 


186       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

What  a  fool  I  had  been  not  to  have  seen  about  that 
insurance  before  it  expired! 

We,  all  of  us,  Larsen,  and  Jones  —  got  down  to  the 
store  at  six  o'clock  the  next  morning.  Wrilkes,  it 
seems,  hadn't  been  awakened  by  the  alarm,  and  very 
much  astonished  he  was  when  he  arrived  later  and 
learned  of  the  fire.  We  went  over  things  carefully, 
and  fortunately  found  that  the  damage  was  not  very 
great.  The  front  door  was  broken ;  the  back  door  had 
been  burned,  and  the  woodwork  around  it;  and  some 
panes  of  glass  broken.  The  four  cases  had  been 
burned  to  a  crisp,  but,  of  course,  that  didn't  amount  to 
anything.  Altogether,  the  damage  did  not  amount  to 
more  than  fifty  dollars,  and,  of  course,  the  building 
was  covered  by  insurance  and  that  loss  didn't  fall  on 
me.  There  were  a  few  odds  and  ends  which  had  been 
blackened  a  little  by  smoke,  and  water  had  fallen  on  a 
few  pans  and  made  rust  spots,  but  the  damage  wasn't 
much. 

You  can  be  sure  that  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to 
chase  down  to  Joe  Pelton's  to  get  that  insurance  fixed 
up  in  double-quick  order.  When  I  got  there  I  learned 
that  he  was  out  of  town,  but  was  expected  back  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  left  word  for  him  to 
come  down  and  see  me  just  the  minute  he  got  back. 

About  twelve  o'clock  I  got  a  long-distance  call  from 
Mr.  Field,  the  secretary  of  the  Hardware  Association. 
How  he  heard  about  it  I  don't  know. 

"  I  hear  you  had  a  fire,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said.  "  Much 
damage  done  ?  " 

"  No,  fortunately  not,"  I  replied. 

"  What  about  your  insurance  ?  " 

"  I'm  ashamed  to  say  it," —  and  I  blushed  when  I 


Fire  —  and  no  Insurance  187 

told  him, — "  but  my  policy  had  just  run  out,  and  I  had 
not  renewed  it." 

"  I'm  glad  the  damage  wasn't  much,  Mr.  Black. 
But  now  you  want  to  insure  through  your  association," 
—  and  then  he  gave  me  facts  and  figures  showing  how 
much  cheaper  and  safer  it  was  to  insure  through  the 
association.  I  didn't  bother  much  to  understand,  be- 
cause I  was  so  anxious  to  get  it  fixed  up,  and  it  wasn't 
certain  anyway  that  Pelton  would  be  back  in  the  after- 
noon, so  I  told  him  to  go  ahead  and  fix  it  up  in  double- 
quick  order. 

He  mentioned  one  thing  that  was  new  to  me,  and 
that  was  about  the  co-insurance  clause.  We  were  talk- 
ing about  how  much  insurance  to  have,  and  he  told  me 
to  be  sure  and  have  at  least  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  value 
of  my  stock,  otherwise  I  was  a  co-insurer  with  the 
company,  and  in  case  of  loss  would  receive  only  a  cer- 
tain percentage  of  the  amount  of  damage. 

I  was  glad  to  have  that  matetr  off  my  mind,  and  he 
promised  to  get  busy  on  it  before  he  went  out  to  lunch. 
I  changed  my  opinion  a  little  about  Mr.  Field.  He 
had  struck  me  as  being  a  man  who  always  took  things 
in  an  easy-going  way,  but  the  promptness  with  which 
he  got  after  me  when  he  spotted  a  new  prospect  for 
a  policy,  and  the  directness  with  which  he  explained 
the  proposition,  showed  me  that  he  had  plenty  of  en- 
ergy to  use  when  necessary. 

At  four  o'clock  I  got  another  surprise.  This  time  it 
was  a  long-distance  call  from  Mr.  Peck,  the  credit 
manager  of  Bates  &  Hotchkin. 

"Have  you  had  a  fire,  Mr.  Black?"  was  his  first 
remark. 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  quite  an  exciting  time." 


188       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Are  you  covered  by  insurance?  " 

"  No  — " 

"  What !  "  he  cried,  and  there  was  great  anxiety  in 
his  tone. 

"  No,  the  policy  expired  a  few  days  ago  and  some- 
how I  neglected  tp  — " 

"  Neglected  to  —  neglected  such  an  important  thing 
as  your  insurance !  "  My !  but  I  felt  small !  "  What's 
the  amount  of  damage?  " 

"  I  should  say  fifty  dollars  would  cover  it,  and  that's 
on  the  building,  not  on  the  stock." 

"  Phew !  I  was  told  that  you  had  been  burned  out." 
He  must  have  felt  relieved.  "  You  had  better  get 
busy  and  place  insurance  at  once !  And  your  credit  is 
stopped  until  you  have  fully  protected  yourself!  " 

I  told  him  I  had  already  arranged  that  with  Mr. 
Field,  and  he  said  to  have  Mr.  Field  advise  him  as  soon 
as  the  policy  was  written. 

Those  two  calls  gave  me  an  insight  as  to  how  real 
business  was  conducted.  Neither  of  them  certainly 
delayed  much  when  they  heard  about  it,  and  they  must 
have  had  some  means  of  finding  out  things  promptly. 

But  I  shuddered  to  think  of  my  narrow  escape.  If 
the  place  had  burned  down  I'd  have  been  absolutely 
ruined. 

I  wondered  if  Stigler  would  —  oh,  but  no,  it  wasn't 
possible  the  man  would  do  such  a  thing.  I  saw  him  as 
I  was  coming  home.  "  Had  quite  a  fire,  didn't  yer?  " 
was  his  remark.  "  Sorry  for  yer  " —  but  his  tone  be- 
lied his  words. 

I  wondered! 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

PROFIT-SHARING    PLANS 

OUR  weekly  meetings  had  certainly  cultivated  a  bet- 
ter spirit  among  my  small  staff.  Even  in  the  case  of 
Wilkes  it  had  had  quite  an  effect.  He  was  only  a 
boy,  but  we  allowed  him  to  sit  in  the  meetings  because 
I  wanted  to  make  him  feel  that  he  was  part  of  the 
organization.  Ever  since  we  started  them  he  had 
been  much  better  in  his  delivery  of  parcels.  He  was 
more  courteous  and  attentive;  he  felt  he  was  one  of 
the  firm.  He  was  not  the  slipshod,  careless,  happy-go- 
lucky  boy  he  was  once,  but  a  careful  boy,  studying  the 
interests  of  the  business  certainly  more  than  we  clerks 
had  done  when  I  was  at  Barlow's.  I  think  that  retail- 
ers could  do  a  lot  to  build  up  self-reliance  and  self- 
respect  among  the  boys  they  have. 

At  our  next  Monday  meeting  the  fire  was  discussed. 
Jones  suggested  that  we  have  a  big  fire  sale.  At  this 
Wilkes  broke  in  eagerly: 

"  But  what  would  we  have  to  sell  ?  I  thought  at  a 
fire  sale  you  had  to  sell  stuff  that  got  damaged  by  the 
fire." 

There  was  more  wisdom  in  that  remark  than  he 
knew. 

Jones  replied :  "  Everybody  in  town  knows  we've 
had  a  fire ;  but  they  don't  know  how  bad  it  was,  and  we 
can  put  in  the  sale  a  lot  of  old  stuff  we  want  to  get 
rid  of,  and  get  away  with  it,  all  right." 

189 


190      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Hum,"  remarked  Larsen.  "  That  would  be  a 
fake,  wouldn't  it  ?  " 

Here  I  broke  in.  "  It's  a  good  suggestion,  Jones, 
but  I  don't  think  we  want  to  have  a  fire  sale.  We  had 
no  stuff  damaged,  to  speak  of,  and  it  would,  as  Larsen 
says,  be  a  fake  sale,  if  we  had  one;  and  I  believe  we'll 
win  out  in  the  end  by  saying  and  doing  nothing  that  is 
going  to  be  other  than  the  truth." 

Jones  was  inclined  to  be  sulky  at  this,  and  my  first 
impulse  was  to  speak  to  him  sharply;  but  I  remem- 
bered, fortunately  in  time,  my  previous  lesson  never  to 
talk  to  an  employee  angrily,  and  furthermore,  that  this 
was  a  directors'  meeting,  where  each  was  privileged  to 
say  what  he  wished  without  regard  for  position.  I 
realized  that  Jones  had  made  the  suggestion  in  all  sin- 
cerity, thinking  it  was  to  my  interest,  so  I  said : 

"  You  know,  Jones,  that  I  have  made  several  sugges- 
tions that  we  decided  not  to  adopt,  for  no  one  of  us 
knows  all  the  best  of  it.  In  some  ways  that's  a  good 
suggestion  of  yours,  and,  if  we'd  had  a  little  more 
stuff  damaged  to  justify  it,  I  think  I'd  have  been  very 
much  tempted  to  have  a  fire  sale.  But,  as  it  is,  don't 
you  think  we  had  better  exert  ourselves  in  making  a 
big  push  on  perfect  Christmas  goods,  rather  than  em- 
phasizing damaged  goods?  You  see,  if  we  had  a  fire 
sale,  some  people  might  hesitate  about  buying  from  us 
for  a  little  while,  even  after  the  sale,  thinking  that  we 
would  be  trying  to  sell  them  fire-damaged  goods." 

"Well,  won't  they  think  that  now?"  he  asked, 
somewhat  mollified. 

"  By  Jove,  perhaps  they  will,"  I  returned.  "  How 
would  you  suggest  overcoming  that?  " 

Larsen  was  about  to  speak,  but  I  checked  him.     I 


Pro  fit- Sharing  Plans  191 

wanted  to   have  Jones   feeling  good-natured   again. 

"Of  course  we  could  advertise  it,"  he  said. 

"  That  seems  a  good,  sensible  suggestion.  All 
right,  we'll  advertise  that  no  goods  were  damaged  by 
the  fire." 

That  removed  the  last  shred  of  resentment  on  the 
part  of  Jones. 

I  told  Betty  about  this  when  I  came  home,  and  she 
exclaimed :  "  Why,  you're  a  regular  Solomon,  you 
are!" 

"  Explain  yourself,"  I  commanded. 

"  Why,  your  tact  in  handling  Jones.  You'll  be  a 
real  manager  of  men,  yet,  if  you  go  on  like  that! " 

"  Huh,  that's  where  I'll  differ  from  Solomon,  then. 
He  was  a  real  manager  of  women  only,  wasn't  he?  " 

"  Now  you're  getting  impudent,"  and  she  kissed  me. 

Well,  after  we  had  disposed  of  the  fire  sale  question, 
we  brought  up  the  matter  of  whether  we  should,  or 
should  not,  sell  toys  at  Christmas  time.  Larsen  was 
strongly  in  favor  of  it,  but  I  was  rather  against  it. 

"  We've  a  hardware  store,"  I  argued,  "  and  that's  a 
men's  shop.  Toys  are  kids'  business." 

"  You  say  we  have  a  men's  store,  eh,"  was  Lar- 
sen's  rejoinder.  "  More  women  than  men  come  into 
the  store.  Women  buy  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  retail 
goods  sold  in  the  country.  Why  not  we  get 
women's  and  children's  trade?  Get  youngsters  com- 
ing into  the  store.  When  they  grow  up  they  come  for 
tools." 

Wilkes  was  strongly  in  favor  of  it,  but  I  had  an  idea 
that  it  was  so  that  he  could  play  with  the  toys.  Jones 
was  against  it  —  he  thought  it  undignified. 

After  an  hour's  discussion  we  were  just  about  where 


192       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

we  were  at  the  beginning,  and  the  matter  was  held 
over  until  the  next  meeting.  I  decided  in  the  mean- 
time to  talk  it  over  with  Betty,  and  then  I  thought  to 
myself:  "  If  I'm  going  to  talk  this  over  with  Betty, 
why  not  get  the  others  to  talk  it  over  with  their 
women-folk  ?  "  That  seemed  to  me  a  good  idea,  and 
I  made  the  suggestion  to  the  others.  So  Larsen 
agreed  to  talk  it  over  with  his  wife,  Jones  with  his 
sweetheart,  and  Wilkes  with  his  mother. 

I  had  a  long  talk  with  Betty  and  Mother  over  the 
toy  situation.  Betty  was  for  it,  Mother  was  against 
it.  So  there  we  were.  What's  a  poor  man  to  do 
when  opinions  are  so  divided?  I  decided  to  wait  a 
while. 

Betty  made  a  bully  good  suggestion,  and  that  was  to 
have  the  boys  up  to  dinner  some  night.  I  had  been 
thinking  of  that;  but  then  she  added:  "And  have 
Larsen  bring  his  wife,  Jones  his  young  lady  and  have 
Wilkes  bring  his  mother." 

"  Good  heavens,"  I  exclaimed,  "  what  is  this  to  be 
—  a  gathering  of  the  Amazons?  Or  are  you  planning 
to  make  a  union  of  you  women  to  run  us  out  of  busi- 
ness!" 

"  Don't  try  to  be  funny,  boy  dear  —  because,  when- 
ever you  try  it,  you  fail  miserably.  You  know  your 
humor  is  very  much  like  an  Englishman's  —  it's  noth- 
ing to  be  laughed  at !  " 

"  But  what's  the  idea?  "  I  persisted. 

"  Now  you  promise  you  won't  laugh  if  I  tell  you?  " 

"  Sure,"  I  said,  grinning  all  over  my  face. 

"  There  you  are !  You  promise  with  one  hand,  and 
grin  with  the  other.  Oh,  pshaw !  "  she  said,  when  I 
laughed.  "  You  know  what  I  mean !  " 


Profit-Sharing  Plans  193 

I  saw  she  was  getting  a  little  provoked,  so  I  said : 
"  Go  ahead,  I  won't  laugh." 

She  handed  me  a  newspaper  clipping  in  which  some 
big  steel  man  said  that,  whenever  he  wanted  to  hire 
executives,  he  always  tried  to  find  out  something 
about  their  home  surroundings,  in  the  belief  that  the 
home  influence,  to  a  big  extent,  makes  or  mars  a  man's 
business  efficiency. 

"  You  see,  boy  dear,"  said  Betty,  "  you  never  saw 
Jones'  girl,  and  you  never  saw  Mrs.  Larsen.  Of 
course,  Mrs.  Wilkes  we  do  know  —  we  know  she  used 
to  do  washing  before  she  married  again.  She's  a  dear 
body,  and  I  know  it  would  please  her  to  come.  And 
if  you  please  her,  she's  going  to  make  Jimmie  work  all 
the  harder." 

"  I  see !  You're  going  to  turn  into  a  female  gang 
driver!" 

"  Now,  if  you  knew  Mrs.  Larsen,  it  would  perhaps 
give  you  more  insight  into  Larsen's  character  than  you 
have  now.  You  would  know  what  his  home  influences 
are,  and  whether  they  are  helping  him  or  hindering 
him.  And  Jones'  young  lady  —  she  may  or  may  not 
be  a  girl  who  is  likely  to  help  him;  and  if  she  isn't — " 

"If  she  isn't,  I  suppose  I've  got  to  tell  him  to  change 
his  girl,  or  fire  him!  That's  a  crazy  idea!  " 

"  I  didn't  say  that.  But,  if  she  isn't  the  right  kind 
of  girl,  you  can't  afford  to  look  upon  Jones  as  a  per- 
manency, that's  all." 

"  You're  making  the  suggestion  for  the  best,  I  know ; 
but  I  think  it's  a  foolish  idea." 

"  I  don't  think  it's  so  foolish,"  interrupted  Mother. 

There  it  was!  First  they  had  disagreed  about  the 
toys,  and  then,  when  I  disagreed  with  either  of  them, 


194      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

they  sided  together !  Well,  I  finally  gave  way  —  I 
might  have  done  it  in  the  first  place  and  saved  the 
trouble  —  and  I  invited  the  whole  bunch  of  them  up  on 
the  following  Friday  night.  It  seemed  to  me  a  risky 
experiment,  but  Betty  was  so  keen  on  it  —  and  I  had 
to  admit  she  was  no  fool.  Anyhow,  I  didn't  think  it 
could  do  much  harm. 

When  the  evening  had  come,  and  gone,  and  they  had 
all  left  the  house,  Betty  squared  herself  in  front  of  me, 
and  said : 

"  Well,  what  have  you  to  say  for  yourself  ?  " 

Solemnly  I  replied :  "  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes 
and  sucklings  — " 

"  I  don't  know  whether  you  are  the  babe,  or  the  suck- 
ling; but  it's  very  seldom  wisdom  cometh  forth  from 
you !  "  she  broke  in ;  but  her  eyes  were  dancing  with  de- 
light at  the  success  of  the  evening  —  for  it  certainly 
had  been  a  success. 

Jimmie's  mother  had  kept  looking  at  Betty  all  night, 
and  whatever  Betty  said  she  agreed  to.  She  was  a 
good-hearted  soul,  who  was  always  quoting  "  my  Jim- 
mie."  She  had  no  ideas  of  her  own  whatever,  and  she 
believed  that  Betty  was  a  kind  of  guardian  angel.  It 
seemed  that  some  weeks  ago  Jimmie  had  had  a  bad 
cold,  and  Betty  had  noticed  it  while  in  the  store  and 
had  gone  across  the  road  and  bought  some  cough 
lozenges  which  she  gave  him.  She  had  forgotten  all 
about  it;  but  ever  since  then  Betty  has  been  on  a 
pedestal  in  that  household.  .  .  .  Isn't  it  queer  what  a 
little  act  of  kindness  like  that  will  lead  to? 

Jones'  girl  was  named  Elsie  Perkins.  I  didn't  like 
the  name  Elsie ;  but  she  was  much  better  than  her  name. 
She  was  a  quiet  little  girl,  but  had  an  opinion  and  will 


Profit-Sharing  Plans  195 

of  her  own.  She  worked  at  the  bank  and  was  Blickens' 
personal  stenographer.  I  never  even  knew  that  Jones 
was  acquainted  with  her !  How  little  the  majority  of 
people  do  know  about  their  employees;  and  if  they  only 
knew  more  about  them,  how  easy  it  would  be  to  get 
better  results  from  them ! 

That  evening  certainly  resulted  in  a  more  friendly 
feeling  among  my  little  staff  than  ever  there  was  before. 

Mrs.  Larsen  was  a  very  queer  woman.  When  she 
came  in  she  bristled  —  do  you  know  what  I  mean  by 
that?  Well,  whenever  any  one  said  anything  to  her 
she  bristled  all  up,  as  if  there  was  going  to  be  an 
argument.  When  she  came  into  the  house  and  Larsen 
introduced  me,  I  said: 

"  How  do  you  do,  Mrs.  Larsen?  " 

"  How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Black  ?  "  she  replied  sharply, 
and  the  way  she  said  it  conveyed  the  idea  that  she  was 
absolutely  on  the  defensive. 

I  went  into  the  kitchen,  later,  while  Betty  was  there, 
and  I  said  to  her : 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  Mrs.  Larsen  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.     Doesn't  she  act  queerly?  " 

"  She  doesn't  like  us  for  some  reason  or  other." 

"  Has  Larsen  ever  said  anything  about  it  ?  " 

"  Never  a  word." 

"  Why  not  tell  her  how  much  you  think  of  Larsen, 
and  how  lucky  you  feel  to  have  him  as  your  manager?  " 
suggested  Betty. 

"  I  see.     Soft-soap  the  old  girl.     All  right." 

I  had  to  hurry  back  into  the  room  then,  because  I 
couldn't  leave  my  guests  for  long.  In  a  few  minutes 
I  was  talking  to  Mrs.  Larsen  about  the  hard  time  we 
had  had  when  I  bought  the  business.  "  I  don't  know 


196       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

what  I  would  have  done  if  it  hadn't  been  for  your 
husband,  Mrs.  Larsen.  I  certainly  think  I'm  lucky  to 
have  him,  and  I  know  he  thinks  he's  lucky  to  have 
you !  " 

"  So  you  think  that  you  are  lucky  to  have  my  hus- 
band working  for  you,  do  you,  Mr.  Black?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  indeed ;  he  is  a  mighty  fine  man,  and  I  think 
a  lot  of  him,  Mrs.  Larsen."  I  spoke  with  all  sin- 
cerity. 

"  Do  you  know  how  old  my  husband  is  ?  " 

"  Why,  n-no.  How  old  is  he?"  I  couldn't  see  any 
reason  for  her  question,  which  was  asked  in  the  same 
frigid  manner,  but  I  responded  with  polite  interest. 

"  Fifty-four,"  was  her  response. 

"  Is  he  that  old  ?  "  I  was  floundering,  for  I  felt  that 
I  had  altogether  missed  my  aim  in  trying  to  pacify 
her. 

"  Yes,  fifty-five  next  January.  .  .  .  And  after  forty 
years'  work  he  is  very  valuable  to  a  hardware  store  — 
so  valuable  that  he  gets  twenty  dollars  a  week !  " 

Hadn't  I  got  my  foot  into  it !  "  T-that's  nothing 
like  your  husband's  real  value,  Mrs.  Larsen,"  I  stut- 
tered, "  b-but  you  know  I've  only  had  the  store  about 
six  months  and  I  had  some  very  heavy  losses  at  the 
beginning." 

"  So  my  husband  should  bear  your  loss,  is  that  it?  " 

I  was  getting  angry  and  was  about  to  make  some 
tart  rejoinder;  but,  just  as  I  was  about  to  speak,  I  felt 
Betty's  hand  on  my  shoulder.  She  had  quietly  come 
into  the  room  and  heard  Mrs.  Larsen's  last  remark. 
To  my  surprise,  Betty  took  over  the  conversation. 

"  Just  what  I  was  telling  Mr.  Black,"  she  said 
sweetly.  "  I  told  him  that,  if  he  ever  expected  to  get 


Pro  fit- Sharing  Plans  197 

people  to  work  whole-heartedly  with  him,  he  would 
have  to  let  them  share  in  his  profits."  , 

"  And  his  losses?  "  broke  in  Mrs.  Larsen. 

"  Yes,  and  his  losses.  For  instance,  take  the  case 
of  Mr.  Larsen  and  Mr.  Jones  —  and  Jimmie,"  she  said, 
looking  at  the  last-named  with  a  twinkle  in  her  eye. 
"  They  have  all  had  to  bear  some  of  Mr.  Black's  losses ; 
and  it  was  a  case  of  either  sharing  the  loss  or  Mr. 
Black  getting  some  one  else  to  share  it,  for,  if  he  had 
paid  them  what  they  were  worth,  he  would  have  failed, 
and  you  see  then  they  as  well  as  Mr.  Black  would  have 
all  been  out  of  work.  As  it  is,  I  really  think  my  hus- 
band has  turned  the  corner,  although  it's  only  six 
months  since  he  took  over  the  store.  .  .  .  And  it  has 
been  a  pretty  busy  six  months,  hasn't  it,  Mr.  Larsen?  " 

"  You  bet  it  has,"  he  returned  heartily. 

"  And  a  pretty  happy  six  months?  " 

"  The  happiest  I  have  had  in  my  life!  " 

"  Well,  I  think,"  Betty  continued,  "  that  we  are  go- 
ing to  have  many  more  happy  months ;  and  one  reason 
we  asked  you  all  here  was  to  let  you  know  so ;  because, 
you  know,  Mrs.  Larsen,  your  hubby  can't  work  well 
for  Mr.  Black  unless  he  has  your  help,  just  the  same 
as  Mr.  Black  can't  work  well  without  my  help.  .  .  . 
These  men  are  helpless  things  without  us  women  to 
cheer  them  up,  aren't  they,  Mrs.  Larsen  ?  " 

"  That's  so,"  she  nodded,  thawing  under  the  sun- 
shine of  Betty's  words.  "  I  tell  my  husband  sometimes 
he  is  a  fool,  and  I  don't  know  how  people  endure 
him,  but  he's  good  to  me."  Then  she  stopped,  em- 
barrassed, for  she  had  made  her  first  remark  without 
"  bristling." 

"  I  know  this,  Mrs.  Larsen,"  said  Betty,  "  that  no 


198       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

man  is  worth  much  in  business,  unless  he  has  a  good 
woman  at  the  back  of  him,  to  help  and  encourage  him. 
.  .  .  You  agree  with  me,  don't  you,  Mr.  Jones  ?  " 

His  answer  was  to  blush  red  and  sheepishly  grin, 
first  at  Betty,  and  then  at  Elsie. 

"  Well,"  Betty  went  on,  while  I  stood  by,  too  aston- 
ished to  say  anything,  and  indeed  not  knowing  what 
was  coming,  "  Mr.  Black  and  I  talked  over,  right  from 
the  beginning,  the  advisability  of  starting  a  profit-shar- 
ing plan.  Now,  we  haven't  worked  it  out  —  in  fact,  he 
has  only  just  decided  definitely  to  go  ahead  with  it; 
but  he  purposes  that,  by  the  time  he  has  finished  his 
first  year  in  business,  if  not  even  sooner,  he  will  ar- 
range some  plan  whereby  he  can  divide  a  share  of  his 
profits,  if  he  makes  any,  with  his  help.  .  .  .  We  talked 
it  over  yesterday," —  what  little  liars  these  women  are 
sometimes !  — "  and  Mr.  Black  said  he  wanted  to  have 
the  women-folk,  who  made  his  little  staff  so  effective, 
know  what  he  was  trying  to  do  for  them.  You  see, 
Mrs.  Wilkes,  Jimmie  here  will  get  a  little  bit  of  profit 
—  let's  see,  every  three  months  you  were  thinking  of 
paying  the  bonus,  wasn't  it,  Dawson  ?  " —  I  gulped  and 
looked  at  Betty  with  amazement,  and  I  must  say,  ad- 
miration, and  nodded  — "  so,  you  see,  that  Jimmie, 
every  three  months,  will  have  a  little  check  to  bring 
home  as  a  little  extra  money,  which  he  can  put  in  the 
savings  bank;  and — " 

"How  much  is  it  likely  to  be?"  asked  Jimmie 
eagerly. 

"  Bless  the  boy,  I  don't  know.  You  may  not  be 
worth  anything.  You  may  be  having  more  now  than 
you're  worth,"  she  said  teasingly. 

"  Not  my  Jimmie/'  gaid  Mrs.  Wilkes  a  little  indig- 


Profit-Sharing  Plans  199 

nantly.  "  My  Jimmie  " —  and  here  she  entered  into  a 
paean  of  praise  of  Jimmie. 

Then  Betty  continued : 

"  And  Mr.  Jones  will  have  a  little  check  which  will 
probably  come  in  very  handily  for —  furniture?  "  she 
said,  looking  at  Elsie.  Elsie's  only  answer  was  a 
blush.  "  And  you,  Mrs.  Larsen,  will  probably  have  a 
check  from  Mr.  Larsen,  every  three  months,  which  will 
help,  at  any  rate,  to  give  Mr.  Larsen  the  protection  for 
his  old  age  that  he  has  so  thoroughly  earned. 

Mrs.  Larsen  was  completely  won  over,  and,  to  my 
surprise,  she  burst  out  crying  bitterly.  Betty  quietly 
put  her  arm  around  her  waist  and  led  her  upstairs. 
They  came  down  in  a  few  minutes,  Mrs.  Larsen  red- 
eyed,  but  smiling;  and  we  immediately  started  the 
question  of  handling  toys  for  Christmas.  The  women 
were  all  strongly  in  favor  of  it,  so  we  decided  to  have 
toys  for  Christmas. 

I  didn't  know  the  first  thing  about  toys;  I  didn't 
know  where  to  buy  them ;  I  didn't  know  what  we  ought 
to  sell.  But,  as  we  were  going  to  sell  them,  I  hoped 
that  my  luck  would  be  with  me. 

After  they  had  gone  Betty  told  me  that  Mrs.  Larsen 
had  said,  when  they  were  upstairs,  that  she  had  been 
urging  Larsen  to  find  another  job,  as  she  felt  he 
wouldn't  make  any  progress  with  me. 

"  Perhaps  that's  why  he  has  looked  worried  some- 
times lately,  and  hasn't  seemed  to  work  with  the  same 
delight  that  he  did  when  I  first  bought  the  business," 
I  said. 

And  then  it  was  that  Betty  had  put  her  hands  to 
her  hips,  cocked  her  head  impishly  one  side,  and  thrown 
her  taunt  at  me ;  "  Well,  what  have  you  to  say  now  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

GETTING   NEW   BUSINESS 

THE  next  day,  I  wrote  to  Hersom,  the  salesman  for 
Bates  &  Hotchkin,  and  asked  him  to  give  me  the  names 
of  one  or  two  good  firms  from  whom  to  buy  toys.  I 
had  just  mailed  the  letter  when  he  came  into  the  store. 

He  was  a  nice  fellow,  was  Hersom,  and  I  had  found 
that,  whenever  I  left  anything  to  him,  he  gave  me  a 
square  deal.  Indeed,  he  had  got  so  that  he  was  almost 
one  of  the  family  when  he  got  inside  the  place.  He 
gave  me  the  names  of  two  New  York  concerns,  the 
manager  of  one  of  which  he  said  he  knew  personally, 
and  to  him  he  gave  me  a  letter  of  introduction. 

I  decided  that  Betty  and  I  would  go  to  New  York 
the  next  week  and  pick  out  a  stock  of  toys.  We  would 
plunge  on  a  hundred  dollars'  worth  —  perhaps  a  little 
more  —  and  see  what  happened. 

After  I  had  found  out  a  little  about  selling  the  Cin- 
cinnati pencil  sharpener,  with  the  aid  of  the  selling 
manual  which  the  company  had  given  me,  I  had  passed 
it  on  to  Larsen,  and  he  had  studied  it  for  a  week  or  two, 
and  then,  one  Thursday  afternoon,  he  had  gone  call- 
ing on  the  business  men  of  the  town,  other  than  the 
store-keepers.  He  sold  only  one  sharpener  the  first 
afternoon,  but  he  had  a  request  for  a  pocketknife, 
which  we  delivered  the  next  day.  The  next  Thursday 
he  went  out  again.  To  my  surprise  he  didn't  sell  a 

200 


Getting  New  Business  201 

single  pencil  sharpener,  but  he  came  back  with  an  order 
for  a  Middle's  razor  and  a  stick  of  shaving  soap,  and 
also  brought  in  eighteen  safety  razor  blades  to  be 
sharpened,  and  two  of  the  regular  kind  of  razors  to  be 
honed ! 

Of  course  we  did  not  sell  soap  and  I  asked  Larsen 
why  he  had  taken  an  order  for  it.  His  reply  was : 

"  Look  here,  Boss,  let's  do  it.  He  wanted  it,  and 
it'll  please  him.  He  then  give  us  more  trade." 

"  But  what  about  the  razor  blades  ?  We  can't 
sharpen  those  here." 

"  Up  to  Bolton  is  a  drug  store  with  a  machine  for 
sharpening  'em.  It's  only  eleven  miles  away.  I  go 
there  and  fix  up  for  them  to  do  it  for  us.  We  can  get 
lots  of  business  for  it." 

Well,  I  let  him  do  it,  and  we  put  a  little  notice  in  our 
window  that  safety  razor  blades  would  be  sharpened, 
and  razors  honed,  in  forty-eight  hours.  We  made 
only  ten  cents  on  a  dozen  blades,  but,  as  Larsen  said, 
and  I  believed  he  was  right,  we  were  obliging  the 
customers;  and  even  if  we  didn't  make  anything  out  of 
it  it  would  pay  us  on  account  of  the  good-will  we  would 
build  up. 

Larsen  had  shocked  me  very  much  the  same  day  by 
saying  that  he  thought  we  ought  to  stock  shaving  soap 
and  talcum  powder,  and  bay  rum,  and  such  stuff.  I 
had  told  him  I  couldn't  stand  for  a  thing  like  that  — 
we'd  have  Traglio  the  druggist  down  on  us. 

"Traglio?"  replied  Larsen.  "Say,  Boss,  you 
never  been  mad  at  him  for  selling  razors?  Nor  for 
selling  mirrors  ?  " 

"  Oh,  well,  we  don't  sell  shaving  mirrors." 

"  Hum.     I  know  we  don't,  but  we  oughter.     What 


202       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

about  him  selling  shaving  brushes?  That's  a  line  we 
got.  I  think  we  oughter  please  customers  and  not 
bother  about  old  Traglio." 

Finally  I  had  allowed  him  to  buy  twenty-five  dollars' 
worth  of  shaving  sundries  —  in  fact,  I  had  told  him  to 
look  after  that  stock  himself.  Well,  since  then,  old 
Larsen  had  looked  upon  his  little  stock  of  shaving  ac- 
cessories as  if  it  were  an  orphan  which  he  had  adopted. 
I  thought  he  spent  too  much  time  in  pushing  the  sale 
of  shaving  sticks,  and  bay  rum,  and  witch  hazel,  but 
his  twenty-five  dollars'  worth  of  stock  rose  to  over 
sixty  dollars  and  we  built  up  quite  a  nice  little  sale  for 
it.  Strange  to  say,  very  little  of  it  was  sold  in  the 
store;  for  every  Thursday  Larsen  visited  his  "  trade," 
as  he  called  it.  He  went  around  to  his  different  people 
once  a  month.  He  had  about  sixty  people  he  called 
on,  all  told  —  an  average  of  fifteen  each  Thursday  aft- 
ernoon. In  three  months  he  had  brought  to  us  over 
twenty  charge  accounts,  and  charge  accounts  with  the 
best  people  in  town,  too,  through  calling  on  the  hus- 
band at  his  place  of  business,  and  getting  the  wife  to 
visit  our  store. 

He  would  come  back  with  all  kinds  of  strange  re- 
quests and  orders.  Once  he  brought  a  request  that  we 
send  a  man  to  repair  a  broken  window  sash.  We 
hadn't  any  one  who  could  do  that,  so  I  telephoned  to 
Peter  Bender  to  go  down  there  and  repair  it  and  charge 
it  to  me.  Peter  seemed  quite  tickled  to  think  that  I 
had  got  him  some  business.  I  told  Peter  that  they 
were  charge  customers  of  ours,  and  that,  as  they  never 
paid  cash,  I'd  pay  him  and  collect  it  on  my  regular  bill, 
which  satisfied  Peter  very  well,  because  he  never  kept 
books. 


Getting  New  Business  203 

He  went  down  and  did  the  job  and  turned  me  in  a 
bill  of  $2.25.  I  paid  it  and  charged  it  to  Mr.  Sturte- 
vant  at  the  same  price.  I  made  nothing  out  of  it,  but 
I  surely  did  please  that  customer,  for  Mrs.  Sturtevant 
dropped  into  the  store  to  make  some  little  purchase  and 
told  me  about  it.  She  remarked  she  didn't  know  we 
had  a  carpenter  department.  I  told  her  I  hadn't,  but, 
as  she  had  wanted  the  job  done,  I  had  telephoned 
Bender  to  go  and  do  it  and  charge  it  up  to  me. 

"  Bender  charged  me  $2.25,"  I  said,  "  and  of 
course  I  charged  you  only  just  that  amount,  for  I 
don't  want  to  make  any  profit  on  little  jobs  like  that. 
It  is  merely  an  accommodation  to  my  customers." 

"  I  haven't  bought  much  from  your  store  before," 
she  said. 

"  That's  my  misfortune,"  I  returned  with  a  laugh. 

"  You  merely  did  that  so  as  to  put  me  in  the  position 
of  having  to  deal  with  you,  is  that  it?  " 

"  Not  at  all.  But  your  husband  asked  Mr.  Larsen, 
when  he  called  on  him,  if  he  could  see  to  it  for  him, 
and  we  were  only  too  glad  to  do  so.  Naturally,  we 
are  anxious  for  your  patronage.  You  know,  Mrs. 
Sturtevant,  that's  what  we  are  in  business  for." 

She  seemed  satisfied  with  that  explanation.  As  she 
was  leaving  the  store,  she  remarked : 

"  Mr.  Black,  if  either  of  the  maids  or  the  chauffeur 
come  here  for  goods,  please  don't  deliver  anything 
unless  they  have  a  written  order.  I  have  decided  to 
stop  trading  with  Mr.  Stigler,  because  I  think  his  bills 
are  too  high.  Do  you  think  Mr.  Stigler  is  a  fair 
man  ?  "  still  with  her  hand  on  the  doorknob. 

Fancy  asking  me  that  question !  As  though  I  could 
possibly  do  justice  to  my  feelings  about  Stigler  in  the 


204       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

presence  of  a  lady.  I  was  about  to  say,  in  the  politest 
manner  possible,  that  I  thought  him  the  dirtiest,  mean- 
est hound  in  the  town,  when  I  caught  Larsen  shaking 
his  head,  with  a  warning  look  in  his  eye,  and  then  I 
realized  the  folly  of  what  I  had  been  about  to  do. 

"  I  think  Mr.  Stigler  is  a  pretty  good  man,  so  far 
as  I  know,"  I  said,  "  but,  of  course,  we  don't  see  much 
of  each  other.'* 

"  I  understand  you  fight  each  other  a  lot  ?  "  she 
asked. 

"  Oh,  no,  not  at  all." 

"  Mr.  Stigler  seemed  quite  provoked  about  you.  I 
was  telling  my  husband  about  it." 

"  What  did  he  say  ?  "  I  asked  with  a  smile. 

"  He  said  that,  when  a  man  disparaged  his  competi- 
tor, he  preferred  to  trade  with  the  competitor!  " 

With  that  she  left  the  store.  I  think  she  wanted  to 
convey  to  me,  without  directly  telling  me  so,  that  that 
was  partly  the  reason  she  had  decided  not  to  trade  with 
Stigler  any  more!  And  to  think  of  the  fool  I  was 
about  to  make  of  myself !  When  you  come  to  think  of 
it,  it  is  bad  business  to  speak  ill  of  your  competitor. 
Fortunately,  I  learned  that  lesson  without  having  to 
pay  for  it. 

Betty  and  I  went  to  New  York  on  a  Sunday,  slept 
there  Sunday  night,  and  the  first  thing  Monday  morn- 
ing, at  Betty's  suggestion,  we  went  up  to  the  office  of 
Hardware  Times.  There  we  found  Mr.  Sirle.  He 
was  a  wonder,  that  man.  He  knew  my  name  right  off, 
for  he  came  right  up  and  shook  hands  with  me,  saying : 
"  Is  this  Mrs.  Black?  "  whereupon  I  introduced  him  to 
Betty.  Some  pleasantries  followed,  and  he  led  us  into 
his  office. 


Getting  New  Business  205 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Sirle,  "  are  you  in  New  York  on 
business,  or  is  this  just  a  pleasure  trip?  " 

"  It's  supposed  to  be  a  business  trip,"  I  replied. 

"  I  see,"  he  returned,  "  a  business  trip  with  a  little 
pleasure  on  the  side." 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  in  spite  of  having  brought  the  wife 
with  me." 

"  Shall  I  throw  him  out  of  the  window  ?  "  said  Mr. 
Sirle,  turning  to  Betty. 

"  Not  this  time,"  she  said,  "  I  think  your  office  is 
too  high  up." 

I  told  Mr.  Sirle  the  object  of  the  trip,  and  asked  him 
if  he  could  recommend  the  house  to  which  Hersom 
had  given  me  a  letter  of  introduction,  and  he  said  yes, 
it  was  a  good  house  to  do  business  with. 

"  Are  you  going  down  there  right  away?  "  he  asked. 

I  told  him  yes,  whereupon  he  picked  up  the  'phone, 
gave  a  number,  and  asked,  "  Is  this  Plunkett  ?  " 

Plunkett,  it  seemed  was  the  manager  of  Fiske  &  Co., 
the  toy  firm  to  which  I  was  going.  Mr.  Sirle  seemed 
to  know  everybody.  It  must  be  fine  to  be  known  and 
liked  by  everybody  as  he  was. 

"  Say,  Plunkett,"  he  said  over  the  'phone,  "  This  is 
Sirle.  There's  a  bully  good  friend  of  mine,  Mr. 
Black,  going  over  to  see  your  line  of  Christmas  toys. 
He  doesn't  know  the  first  thing  about  toys,  but  he's  all 
right.  I  want  you  to  do  the  best  you  can  for  him. 
.  .  .  All  right,  I'll  see  if  Mr.  Black  can  be  there  about 
half-past  two.  .  .  ." 

I  nodded  assent,  and  the  appointment  was  made. 

Well,  Mr.  Sirle  wouldn't  hear  of  us  doing  anything 
until  we  had  lunch  with  him,  so  he  took  Betty  and  me 
out  to  one  of  the  nicest  little  lunches  I  ever  had. 


206       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

Betty  quite  fell  in  love  with  him,  especially  when  she 
heard  the  way  he  spoke  about  his  little  boy.  She  said 
to  me,  coming  home  on  the  train :  "  A  man  must  be 
all  right  who  loves  children  as  he  does  his  boy." 

Well,  we  went  to  the  toy  house,  and  we  bought  a 
selection.  We  spent  $160,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  but  I 
was  certain  that  we  got  an  excellent  assortment.  We 
bought  a  lot  of  mechanical  toys  and  a  number  of 
games.  Mr.  Sirle  advised  us  to  add  air  rifles,  struc- 
tural outfits,  water  pistols,  and  a  few  things  of  that 
nature  which  the  regular  jobbing  houses  carry,  to 
make  a  big  showing.  He  also  advised  me  to  make  a 
good  display  in  the  window  and  have  one  counter  ex- 
clusively for  toys. 

"  Fix  a  train  in  the  window,  and  let  one  of  your 
boys  keep  it  wound  up,"  he  added.  "  The  little  engine 
running  around  and  round  on  the  rails  will  attract  a 
lot  of  interest.  Nothing  helps  a  window  display  so 
much  as  something  moving  in  it." 

In  the  evening  we  went  to  the  theater  and  left  New 
York  early  the  next  morning,  getting  back  to  Farmdale 
in  time  for  me  to  put  in  a  couple  of  hours  at  the  store. 
I  sent  off  a  little  order  to  Bates  &  Hotchkin  for  the 
extra  toys  which  Mr.  Sirle  had  advised  me  to  buy. 

Mr.  Sirle  sold  me  a  book  on  show-card  writing 
which  he  said  would  give  me  some  good  ideas  also  on 
advertising  generally. 

I  felt  a  bit  worried  on  seeing  four  great  cases  de- 
livered to  Stigler's  5-  and  lo-cent  store,  especially 
when  I  found  that  they  were  Christmas  novelties  and 
cheap  toys.  All  the  stuff  I  had  bought  was  of  the  bet- 
ter quality.  I  hoped  we  wouldn't  get  stung  with  the 
venture,  for  it  looked  as  if  the  toy  business  was  going 


Getting  New  Business  207 

to  be  overdone  in  the  town.  The  department  store 
was  already  advertising  that  they'd  have  a  children's 
fairyland  for  the  whole  of  December.  Traglio  was 
running  a  lot  of  games,  jigsaw  puzzles  and  things  of 
that  kind.  Funny  thing,  the  year  before  the  depart- 
ment store  had  been  about  the  only  one  that  did  any- 
thing in  toys,  and  they  hadn't  done  very  much.  Now 
this  year  there  were  seven  of  us  pushing  toys  and  it 
looked  as  if  some  one  was  going  to  get  left. 

One  day,  Miriam  Rooney,  one  of  Mrs.  Sturtevant's 
maids,  came  into  the  store  and  said  she  wanted  to  get 
some  kitchen  goods  for  her  mistress.  I  asked  her  for 
a  written  order  for  the  goods,  in  accordance  with  in- 
structions from  Mrs.  Sturtevant,  and  she  drew  out  a 
little  book,  printed  especially  for  the  purpose,  in  which 
the  blanks  were  numbered.  She  slipped  in  a  sheet 
of  carbon  for  the  copy,  and  was  about  to  fill  out  the 
order,  when  she  said,  with  a  peculiar  look  on  her  face: 

"I  —  I  suppose  you'll  charge  it  up  the  same  way  as 
Mr.  Stigler  used  to  ?  " 

The  moment  she  said  it,  I  felt  there  was  something 
wrong.  I  suppose  I  was  prejudiced  against  that  man, 
and  every  time  I  heard  his  name  I  saw  red.  Stigler 
had  been  trying  in  every  way  he  could  to  hurt  me.  He 
was  all  the  time  cutting  prices,  and  I  had  lost  quite  a 
lot  of  business  because  of  my  refusal  to  reduce  my 
prices  when  customers  came  and  told  me  they  could 
buy  cheaper  at  Stigler 's.  I  used  to  do  so  at  first,  until 
Old  Barlow  advised  me  not  to. 

"  Don't  you  think  it  is  quite  possible,"  he  had  said, 
"  that  your  friend  Stigler  is  sending  some  one  into 
your  store  to  see  how  much  they  can  beat  you  down  ?  " 

I  asked  what  good  that  would  do  him, 


208       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Suppose  a  woman  came  in  for  a  fifty-cent  article 
and,  by  telling  you  she  could  get  it  from  Stigler  for 
forty  cents,  you  were  induced  to  let  down  the  price, 
and  not  only  sell  it  to  her  for  that  price,  but  make  that 
the  regular  price  on  the  article  ?  " 

Well,  I  had  never  done  that,  although  I  had  occa- 
sionally let  down  the  price  on  some  individual  article, 
but  since  then  I  had  adopted  the  strictly  one-price 
policy. 

When  Miriam  Rooney  asked  me  if  I  would  charge 
it  up  the  same  way  as  Stigler,  I  was  on  my  guard  at 
once.  "  I  don't  know  what  Stigler  does  at  all,"  I  said, 
with  a  smile. 

"  Well,"  said  Miriam  hesitatingly,  "  you  see,  Mr. 
Black,  we  use  a  lot  of  things  up  to  the  big  house  " — 
Mrs.  Sturtevant  was  the  wife  of  a  very  wealthy  manu- 
facturer in  the  neighborhood  and  kept  up  a  large  es- 
tablishment — "  and  you  might  want  to  make  it  worth 
our  while  for  us  to  buy  from  you.  Mrs.  Sturtevant 
said  she'd  as  soon  we'd  buy  from  you  as  anywhere 
else." 

"  In  other  words,  you  want  a  rake-off  —  is  that  it?  " 

"  Well,"  she  said,  evidently  not  liking  the  brutally 
frank  way  I  put  it,  "  it  ought  to  be  worth  something  to 
you  to  get  all  the  business  of  the  big  house,  hadn't 
it?" 

"  No,"  I  said,  desiring  to  get  rid  of  the  subject  in 
the  easiest  way,  "  I  can't  afford  to  do  so  at  the  price  I 
sell  my  goods,  and  there  would  be  no  benefit  to  me  in 
doing  business  without  a  profit,  would  there?  " 

"  Oh,  you're  soft,"  she  said.  "  It  needn't  cost  you 
anything." 

I  knew  well  enough  what  she  meant.     "  But  that 


Getting  New  Business  209 

would  be  making  Mrs.  Sturtevant  pay  more  for  the 
goods  than  they  are  worth." 

"  What  d'  you  care,  so  long  as  she  pays  it?  " 

"  I  want  Mrs.  Sturtevant's  business,  young  woman, 
but  I'm  hanged  if  I'm  going  to  do  any  grafting  to  get 
it!" 

"Keep  your  old  things,  then!  If  you're  a  fool, 
Stigler  isn't!  "  And  with  that  she  bounced  out  of  the 
store. 

Larsen  wanted  to  telephone  Mrs.  Sturtevant  and  tell 
her  all  about  it,  but  I  said  we'd  never  had  much  busi- 
ness from  her  and  I'd  hate,  just  before  Christmas,  to 
cause  a  girl  to  lose  her  job.  "  Besides,"  I  said,  "  she'd 
deny  it,  of  course." 

I  told  Betty  about  it  when  I  got  home.  All  she  did 
was  to  come  over  and  give  me  a  kiss  and  say,  "  I'm 
glad,  boy  dear,  you  are  strong  enough  to  do  business 
honestly." 

A  few  days  later,  Mrs.  Sturtevant  came  into  the 
store  and  bought  quite  a  number  of  things.  When  she 
was  through,  she  said  to  me : 

"  Didn't  one  of  my  maids  come  in  here  yesterday?  " 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Sturtevant." 

"Why  didn't  she  buy?" 

"  I  couldn't  satisfy  her,"  I  said  with  a  smile. 

"  How  do  you  mean,  you  couldn't  satisfy  her?  "  per- 
sisted Mrs.  Sturtevant. 

"  Why,  we  —  we  couldn't  agree  on  prices !  " 

"  You  are  a  very  foolish  young  man!  "  I  looked  at 
her  blankly  —  I  didn't  know  what  she  meant.  "  If 
you  hadn't  a  mother  to  look  after  you,  I  don't  know 
what  you  would  do !  " 

"  What  do  you  —  I  don't  quite  follow  you,"  I  smiled. 


210       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  I'll  tell  you,  Mr.  Black.  Your  mother  and  I,  of 
course,  know  each  other,  and  she  paid  me  a  call  a  few 
days  ago;  and,  while  talking,  she  mentioned  that  you 
refused  to  sell  me  some  goods  because  you  would  have 
to  add  a  premium  to  the  price." — Betty  must  have  told 
mother! — "  I  have  suspected  that  I  have  been  paying 
too  much  for  my  goods,  and,  when  your  mother  told 
me  that,  I  was  certain  of  it.  Besides,  I  suspected  some- 
thing when  Miriam  said  she  couldn't  find  the  things  we 
wanted  here,  and  she  had  to  go  to  Stigler's,  when  I 
asked  her  why  she  didn't  buy  them  of  you." 

"  Don't  worry.  I  haven't  dismissed  the  girl ;  but  I 
have  given  her  a  good  talking  to." 

If  you  knew  Mrs.  Sturtevant,  you  would  know  that 
she  could  give  anybody  a  good  talking-to.  "  But  I  do 
know  I  have  paid  prices  that  were  too  high,"  she  con- 
tinued, "  because  I  asked  a  friend  to  go  into  Mr.  Stig- 
ler's store  and  buy  some  things,  and  I  checked  those 
with  the  prices  which  had  been  charged  me." 

"  And  they  were  —  ?  " 

"  Yes,  about  fifteen  per  cent,  more." 

"Hum!" 

"  Yes,  exactly.  I  said  something  more  vigorous 
than  that,  though,  for  your  competitor  first  of  all  added 
ten  per  cent,  for  the  maid  and  then  apparently  another 
five  per  cent,  for  himself!  I  have  been  over  there  and 
told  him  that  I  have  instructed  my  help  never  to  buy 
anything  from  him  again,  and  that,  if  they  do,  I  shall 
positively  refuse  to  pay  for  it." 

I  wondered  if  other  retail  merchants  had  just  these 
same  little  problems  to  solve  that  I  had.  I  wondered 
if,  in  a  case  like  this  one,  they  would  have  ever  thought 
of  suggesting  to  their  customers  that  they  get  some 


Getting  New  Business  211 

friends  to  buy  an  article  or  two  occasionally,  and  com- 
pare the  prices  with  those  they  were  charged.  ...  I 
knew  the  episode  wouldn't  make  Stigler  love  me  any 
more,  for  the  Sturtevant  business  amounted  to  quite  a 
lot.  That  one  order  that  Miriam  Rooney  had  bought 
of  Stigler  had  been  eighteen  dollars'  worth. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

STIGLER   RUNS   AMUCK 

ABOUT  this  time  Betty  was  taken  sick,  so  that  I  used 
to  go  into  the  £lite  Restaurant  for  my  lunches.  This 
was  a  place  frequented  by  a  number  of  business  men. 
Stigler  was  in  there  one  day  when  I  got  in,  talking 
with  some  of  the  people  who  regularly  dined  there.  If 
ours  wasn't  a  dry  town,  I  should  have  said  that  Stigler 
had  been  drinking;  for,  the  minute  he  saw  me,  he 
flushed,  and  an  ugly  expression  came  into  his  face. 

"  There  he  is,"  he  cried  to  his  friends,  pointing  at 
me,  and  he  spoke  in  a  voice  loud  enough  for  me  and 
everybody  else  in  the  place  to  hear.  "  There  he  is !  A 
pretty  little  chap  he  is  —  oh,  so  nice  that  he  is !  —  to 
stab  his  competitor  in  the  back.  D — d  young 
whelp !  "  he  said  to  his  friends,  but  at  me.  "  What  do 
yer  think  of  a  feller  that  goes  behind  yer  back  to  hurt 
yer  character?  I'd  sooner  a  feller'd  come  out  in  the 
open  and  fight.  D — d  character  assassin !  " 

His  friends  looked  rather  embarrassed.  I  sat  down 
at  the  table,  apparently  not  paying  the  least  attention  to 
him,  but  my  head  was  in  a  whirl.  Then  I  gave  my 
order  to  Kitty.  I  suppose  Kitty  had  another  name,  but 
everybody  knew  her  as  Kitty.  She  was  a  pretty  little 
Irish  girl,  who  had  come  to  our  town  about  five  years 
ago,  nobody  knew  from  where.  Old  Collier,  the  big, 

fat,  kindly  old  Frenchman  who  ran  the  place,  at  once 

212 


Stigler  Runs  Amuck  213 

had  given  her  a  job.  He  was  too  big-hearted  to  in- 
quire why  she  came  by  herself  and  why  her  eyes 
showed  signs  of  sleeplessness  and  weeping.  He  not 
only  gave  her  a  job,  but,  in  a  few  weeks,  had  taken  her 
into  the  family.  She  at  first  became  known  jokingly 
as  Kitty  Collier,  and  soon  everybody  thought  of  her  by 
that  name.  She  thought  the  whole  universe  revolved 
around  genial  old  Pierre,  who  really  regarded  her  as 
he  would  his  own  daughter. 

When  Kitty  first  came  into  the  town  Betty  at  once 
had  become  her  friend;  and  in  fact  Betty  had  been 
quite  severely  criticized  for  making  a  friend  of  a  girl 
whose  character  was  unknown.  Kitty  thought  a  lot 
of  Betty  and,  in  consequence,  of  me  also. 

"  I'll  bring  ye  some  nice  steak,"  said  Kitty  with  her 
pretty  brogue,  and  unobtrusively  patted  my  back.  She 
sensed  the  unhappy  position  I  was  in. 

When  she  came  back,  Stigler  was  saying  in  a  loud 
voice :  "  There  are  some  people  —  and  their  name 
ain't  WThite,  either  —  that  ought  to  be  ridden  out  o' 
town !  " 

Crash!  Kitty  had  dropped  her  plate,  and,  to  the 
surprise  of  every  one  —  especially  to  me, —  she  walked 
over  to  where  Stigler  was  sitting,  gave  his  hair  a  vigor- 
ous pull,  and  said: 

"  Arrah,  now,  ye  dir-rty  blackguard,  ye're  not  a  gin- 
tleman  yerself,  an'  ye  doan't  know  one,  if  ye  see  one. 
Mr.  Black,  there,  is  too  much  of  gintleman  to  sile  his 
hands  on  the  likes  o'  you,  but  I'm  not! "  and  with  that 
she  gave  him  a  resounding  box  on  the  ear. 

Stigler  jumped  up  with  an  oath,  while  old  Pierre  ran 
from  behind  the  counter;  Stigler,  black  with  rage, 
Pierre  almost  crying  with  vexation. 


214       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

Stigler  caught  Kitty  by  the  arm  and  angrily  swung 
her  around,  and  then  —  I  forgot  myself.  I  rushed  at 
him  and  caught  him  fairly  under  the  jaw.  He  fell 
back  among  the  tables;  and  then  some  people  caught 
hold  of  us,  and  held  us  both  back.  Finally  Stigler 
walked  out  of  the  restaurant,  without  another  word, 
while  I  sat  down  at  the  table  to  eat  my  steak  ;  but  I  was 
trembling  all  over  with  the  excitement  and  could  eat 
nothing. 

I  felt  that  there  was  nothing  I  wouldn't  do  to  be  able 
to  run  Stigler  out  of  the  town.  Why  he  should  be  so 
bitter  against  me  I  didn't  know,  unless  it  was  that  my 
business  was  slowly  growing.  Of  course  he  had  been 
fond  of  Betty,  but  surely  he  was  all  over  that. 

Old  Barlow  came  over  to  the  store,  having  heard  of 
the  fracas. 

"  Look  here,  Black,"  he  said,  "  I  want  you  to  forget 
that  fracas.  Forget  Stigler  as  much  as  you  can.  If 
you  see  him,  don't  speak  to  him;  but  just  drive  ahead 
and  '  saw  wood.'  If  he  likes  to  waste  his  energies  in 
thinking  up  ways  of  getting  revenge,  why,  let  him  do 
so.  Just  keep  your  attention  on  your  business  and 
you'll  have  a  successful  business  when  he  is  forgotten. 
No  man  can  build  a  successful  business  on  spite.  No 
man  can  increase  his  bank  account  while  he's  trying  to 
make  his  business  a  weapon  to  secure  revenge  against 
some  one  else.  I  have  seen  so  many  business  men 
spoil  themselves  because  they  began  to  worry  over 
competition,  and,  instead  of  just  seeing  how  they  could 
improve  their  methods  of  business  they  spent  good  time 
in  seeing  how  they  could  fight  one  individual  com- 
petitor. Success  to-day  isn't  made  by  downing  the 
other  fellow,  but  by  building  up  one's  own  efficiency  in 


Stigler  Runs  Amuck  215 

business  methods.  There's  room  for  you  and  Stigler 
and  me  in  this  town  —  in  fact,"  he  said  with  a  smile, 
"  we  are  going  to  have  a  little  more  competition  yet." 

"  Where  ?  "  I  asked,  surprised. 

"  In  Macey  Street." 

Macey  Street  was  a  busy  little  street  connecting 
High  and  Main. 

"Who  is  it?" 

"  I  don't  know ;  but  I  understand  it's  one  of  a  chain 
of  stores." 

"  What  kind  of  goods  are  they  going  to  handle?  " 

"  Kitchen  goods,  same  as  you." 

"  H'm,"  I  said  with  a  grin,  "  I  guess  I'll  have  to  go 
into  the  agricultural  implements  business  and  compete 
with  you!  " 

"  Go  to  it !  Good  luck  to  you !  "  But  he  knew  that 
I  couldn't  do  that,  for  I  hadn't  the  money  to  put  in  the 
necessary  stock;  and,  besides,  Mr.  Barlow  had  had 
that  business  for  years. 

When  I  told  the  Mater  about  it,  she  replied :  "  It 
seems  to  me  unreasonable  to  say  that,  because  Mr. 
Barlow  has  had  that  business  for  years,  you  should 
avoid  it ;  but  I  really  hope  you  won't  try  for  it,  because 
Mr.  Barlow  is  such  a  good  friend  of  yours,  and  his 
friendship  and  the  help  which  he  has  given  you  is 
worth  more  to  you  than  what  you  might  earn  from 
selling  those  goods.  If  you  did,  he  might  retaliate  and 
sell  electrical  goods,  and,  you  know,  you  are  getting 
quite  a  name  for  those." 

It  was  a  fact;  we  were  selling  quite  a  lot  of  electrical 
goods  —  indeed,  I  believed  we  were  going  to  build  up 
a  very  substantial  business  in  them  before  long.  I  was 
thinking  of  making  a  special  department  of  them,  and 


216       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

hiring  a  girl  to  be  in  charge  of  it.  I  knew  that  many 
people  would  think  it  funny  to  have  a  girl  in  a  hard- 
ware store,  but,  just  the  same,  I  had  a  hunch  that  a 
girl  could  handle  that  kind  of  goods  better  than  a  man. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

NEW    TROUBLES 

BETTY  had  become  seriously  ill.  The  doctor  said 
she  ought  to  go  South  until  spring,  and  then  take  a  sea 
voyage.  I  told  him  I  didn't  know  where  the  money 
was  coming  from  to  do  it ;  but  the  Mater  reminded  me 
that  Aunt  Hannah  lived  in  Birmingham.  The  doctor 
said  that  would  be  better  than  up  here  for  the  time  be- 
ing, so  the  Mater  wrote  at  once  to  Aunt  Hannah  to  see 
if  Betty  could  go  and  stay  with  her  for  a  while.  I 
would  shut  up  the  house  and  live  with  the  Mater  until 
Betty  came  back. 

I  had  not  yet  been  able  to  pay  all  the  monthly  bills. 
I  had  bought  those  toys  in  New  York  on  a  ten-day  cash 
basis,  so  I  was  hard  up.  When  I  went  to  the  bank  to 
try  to  borrow  $500.00  Blickens  had  turned  me  down. 
He  had  said :  "  You're  right  in  the  busiest  time  of  the 
year  now.  A  few  days  should  give  you  all  the  money 
you  need.  If  you  can't  carry  yourself  without  the  aid 
of  the  bank  now,  you  never  can." 

Then,  to  cap  the  whole  thing,  I  had  received  a  letter 
from  Barrington  saying  he'd  like  me  to  pay  that 
$1,250.00  note,  secured  by  a  mortgage  on  my  farm.  I 
went  to  his  office,  and  he  said  he  wanted  the  thing 
closed  up  right  away.  It  was  a  demand  note,  because, 
when  we  fixed  it  up,  Barrington  had  said  he  wanted  it 
to  run  an  indeterminate  time.  I  had  expected  he 

217 


218       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

would  carry  it  indefinitely,  but  there  it  was  —  he  said 
he  had  a  sudden  call  for  the  money  and  wanted  me  to 
pay  it  off. 

I  had  caught  a  very  bad  cold,  and  if  I  had  not  been 
boss  I'd  have  taken  a  good  vacation.  One  day  I  went 
to  the  store,  but  had  to  come  home  early,  I  felt  so  sick. 
Jones,  too,  was  out  the  same  day  —  worse  luck.  His 
mother  had  called  up  in  the  morning,  saying  he  had 
caught  a  bit  of  a  cold,  and  she  thought  it  would  be 
much  better  for  him  to  stay  home  till  he  was  well.  I 
almost  wished  I  were  a  clerk  for  a  little  while,  then 
perhaps  I  could  stay  at  home  and  get  a  rest.  I  really 
felt  very  ill.  My  head  was  splitting. 

I  wonder  if  clerks  realize  how  often  the  Boss  has  to 
work  when  he  feels  sick?  Most  bosses,  I  guess,  have 
that  feeling  of  responsibility  for  the  business  and  the 
employees  that  I  always  have  had,  and  that  keeps  them 
working  when  they'd  be  at  home  if  they  didn't  have 
that  responsibility.  I  remember  one  of  the  fellows 
who  worked  with  me  at  Barlow's  used  to  complain  that 
Barlow  got  all  the  profit,  while  we  got  all  the  work  — 
and  I  agreed  with  him  at  the  time,  poor  fool  that  I  was. 
We  never  thought  that  Barlow  had  all  his  money  in- 
vested in  the  business  that  was  providing  us  with  a  cer- 
tain living.  We  never  stopped  to  think  that  we  were 
sure  to  get  our  money  every  week,  whatever  happened, 
but  that  Barlow  had  to  take  a  chance  on  anything  that 
was  left.  We  never  thought  about  the  worry  and  re- 
sponsibility. 

I  don't  want  to  forget  the  workers'  side  of  a  busi- 
ness deal,  but  I  never  realized  so  much  as  I  did  then 
how  unjust  most  employees  are  to  their  boss.  I  know 
many  bosses  are  unjust  to  their  employees  and  per- 


New  Troubles  219 

haps  the  boss  is  principally  to  blame  for  it,  but  just 
take  my  case :  There  was  Jones  threatened  with  a 
cold,  so  he  stayed  home  when  he  could  have  been 
working  just  as  well  as  not.  He  knew  he  was  going 
to  get  his  money  on  Saturday,  anyway.  But  I  was  so 
sick  I  could  hardly  think  logically;  and  I  had  to  go 
down  to  the  store  and  work. 

Stigler  had  put  on  a  big  sale  of  Christmas  novelties. 
He  had  bought  a  lot  of  indoor  parlor  games.  I  hadn't 
bought  any  of  those;  and  he  had  a  line  of  calendars 
and  Christmas  cards.  I  had  never  thought  of  putting 
them  in.  The  drug  store  had  a  big  stock  of  them, 
though. 

Stigler  was  advertising  extensively  and  was  pretty 
busy  at  both  the  five-and-ten-cent  store  and  at  the  hard- 
ware store  opposite.  He  seemed  to  be  doing  more 
business  than  usual.  Since  we  had  had  the  scrap  in 
the  £lite  Restaurant  he  had  been  quite  polite,  but  some- 
how I  feared  him  more  than  ever  before.  He  seemed 
to  have  a  cold  hatred  of  me,  and  he  was  always  going 
out  of  his  way  to  spoil  any  adventure  in  special  sales 
that  I  made. 

Toys  had  been  going  very  slowly  with  me.  I  had 
wanted  to  get  Fellows  of  the  Flaxon  Advertising 
Agency  to  write  up  some  ads  on  toys  for  me,  but  he 
was  in  the  hospital,  being  operated  on  for  appendicitis. 
I  didn't  know  what  to  do. 

As  soon  as  she  received  the  Mater's  letter  Aunt  Han- 
nah had  telegraphed,  saying  she'd  be  delighted  to  have 
Betty  visit  her,  and  asking  if  I  couldn't  come  as  well. 
Of  course  I  could  not  go,  but  the  doctor  said  that  Betty 
was  well  enough  to  travel,  so  it  was  decided  that  the 
Mater  should  go  down  with  her  to  stay  for  a  week  or 


220       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

so  while  I  looked  after  the  house.  I  planned  to  have 
all  my  meals  at  the  filite  Restaurant 

The  day  after  they  left  I  was  so  ill  that  I  had  to 
spend  the  whole  day  in  the  house.  Larsen  came 
around  at  lunch  time  and  said  he'd  written  up  an  ad  on 
toys  and  had  put  it  in  the  papers. 

"  We  can't  afford  any  money  for  ads,"  I  said 
peevishly. 

"  Done  now,  Boss,  anyhow.  Don't  you  worry  — 
we  had  quite  a  .good  day  yesterday.  Going  to  have 
another  one  to-day.  You  stay  right  in  bed  until  you 
are  well.  We'll  look  after  things  there." 

Larsen  was  a  good  sort.  I  saw  his  ad  in  the  paper. 
It  read  like  this : 


SOMETHING  THAT  MOVES 

Every  youngster  likes  a  toy  that  moves.  Get  him  one 
for  Christmas!  We  have  a  large  variety  of  moving  and 
other  Christmas  toys.  They  are  toys  that  will  fascinate 
the  youngster.  They  are  strongly  built  toys,  too,  that  will 
last. 

Railroads,  50^  to  $4.00 
Constructor  outfits,  25^  to  $6.00 
Bamboo,   the  wonderful  tumbling  clown,  50^ 
Automobiles,    moving    animals,    juvenile    tool    outfits  — 
hundreds  of  other  things  the  children  will  like. 

Bring  the  youngsters  in  and  let  them  enjoy  the  fun  of 
our  toy  bazaar. 


Larsen  told  me  that  he  had  cleared  away  two  long 
tables,  placed  them  together,  covered  them  with  cheap 
oil  cloth,  and  filled  them  up  with  toys,  arranged  in  such 
a  way  that  they  could  all  be  worked  and  handled  easily. 


New  Troubles  221 

"  I  have  Jimmie  keeping  'em  going  all  the  time.  He 
is  working  harder,  playing  with  them  things,  than  he 
ever  did  in  his  life,"  he  said,  with  a  chuckle. 

I  couldn't  help  smiling  at  Larsen's  cheeriness.  He 
certainly  had  been  different  since  we  had  had  that  din- 
ner at  home  and  had  made  Mrs.  Larsen  realize  that  I 
was  looking  after  his  interests  as  well  as  my  own. 

I  thought  Larsen  had  done  quite  well  on  that  ad, 
although  there  were  some  things  .in  it  that  I'd  have 
changed. 

He  said  that  a  lot  of  toys  had  been  sold  because  he 
had  them  working.  I  had  intended  to  do  something  of 
that  kind  myself,  only  I  had  felt  too  sick  to  attend  to 
it.  I  remembered  the  big  success  we  had  had  with 
electrical  appliances  when  we  demonstrated  them  in 
actual  use. 

There  were  only  six  days  to  Christmas!  Still,  if 
we  had  a  good  week  we  ought  to  clear  those  toys  out. 

Larsen  told  me  Stigler's  five-and-ten-cent  store  was 
packed.  He  thought  it  was  a  good  thing  for  us. 

"  Lots  of  folks  go  there,"  he  said,  "  for  5-  and  10- 
cent  things.  We're  next  door.  They  come  to  us  for 
better  stuff." 

Perhaps  there  was  something  in  that,  after  all. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

A   NEW    COMPETITOR 

THE  New  England  Hardware  Company  were  to 
open  their  store  on  Macey  Street  on  January  one.  I 
knew  because  I  had  received  the  following  letter  from 
them,  which  evidently  they  had  sent  to  every  house  in 
town: 


Dear  Sir: 

The  New  England  Hardware  Company  open  their  Farm- 
dale  Store  January  i,  at  62  Macey  Street.  This  store  will 
be  in  charge  of  Mr.  Robert  Burns,  who  for  many  years 
was  in  charge  of  the  kitchen  goods  department  at  the 
Bon  Marche. 

We  earnestly  solicit  your  patronage  at  our  new  store 
—  not  because  by  so  doing  you  will  help  Mr.  Burns  (who 
has  an  interest  in  the  profits  of  the  company)  but  because 
you  will  get  the  best  in  kitchen  hardware  at  cut-rate 
prices. 

You  will  readily  appreciate  that  an  organization  like 
ours  can  give  you  greater  value  than  the  usual  hardware 
store,  where  the  goods  are  bought  in  small  lots  by  the 
proprietor  or  manager,  who  has  many  other  duties  to 
attend  to.  Our  buyers  are  experts,  who  devote  all  their 
time  to  the  study  and  search  of  markets ;  buying  in 
tremendous  quantities  (for  twenty-seven  stores),  and 
paying  spot  cash.  We  are  thus  able  to  sell  merchandise 
for  less  than  usual  prices. 

Mr.  Burns  hopes  to  meet  all  his  friends  on  the  open- 
ing day,  January  one.     He  has  a  surprise  gift  for  every 
visitor  to  the  store  on  that  day. 
Respectfully  yours, 

NEW  ENGLAND  HARDWARE  COMPANY. 


222 


A  New  Competitor  223 

That  had  struck  me  as  being  a  pretty  good  letter.  It 
certainly  was  a  clever  idea  to  get  Burns  as  their  man- 
ager, because  he  was  very  popular  in  the  town.  When 
the  Bon  Marche  failed  he  had  come  to  me,  but,  of 
course,  I  couldn't  use  him.  Then  he  had  told  me  that 
the  chain-store  people  had  made  him  an  offer,  and  he 
went  to  work  in  their  Hartford  store.  At  that  time  he 
didn't  say  anything  about  the  possibility  of  coming 
back  to  Farmdale  as  manager  of  a  store  for  them.  I 
don't  think,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  he  had  any  idea 
that  they  were  going  to  open  a  new  store.  Burns  was 
a  bully  good  fellow,  and  I  honestly  hoped  he'd  be 
successful,  although  I  hoped  the  new  store  would  not 
hurt  us  much.  .  .  . 

The  day  after  I  received  the  circular  letter  I  had  a 
telephone  call  from  Burns.  He  had  come  into  town 
to  take  charge  of  getting  the  new  store  ready.  We 
made  an  appointment  to  have  Christmas  dinner  to- 
gether and  he  promised  to  tell  me  how  his  firm  had 
gone  about  opening  the  new  store  in  Farmdale. 

I  had  been  doing  a  little  figuring,  and  I  didn't  know 
whether  we'd  do  our  $30,000  in  the  fiscal  year  or  not. 
Up  to  the  end  of  November  —  that  is  for  six  months 
—  our  business  had  amounted  to  $13,872.00,  $1,128.00 
below  our  quota.  However,  in  the  last  two  days  we 
had  taken  in  $345.00  and  I  had  been  able  to  pay  off  the 
last  few  of  our  monthly  accounts.  Barrington,  too, 
had  told  me  he'd  wait  until  the  first  of  the  year;  but 
insisted  that  I  tell  him  then  what  I  could  do. 

I  wished  I  could  increase  the  business  a  little  bit 
more,  for  my  expenses  were  still  high,  and  we  were  all 
of  us  feeling  fagged  through  being  under-staffed.  We 
could  well  have  done  with  another  clerk;  but  we  just 


224       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

couldn't  afford  it.  However,  while  Betty  was  away  I 
could  work  day  and  night,  if  necessary,  and  then,  per- 
haps, by  the  time  she  got  back,  we'd  have  things  in  such 
shape  that  I  could  afford  another  clerk. 

As  arranged,  I  had  Christmas  dinner  with  Roger 
Burns  at  his  boarding-house. 

After  dinner  Roger  told  me  some  of  the  methods 
that  the  New  England  Hardware  Company  used  in 
locating  stores  and  carrying  on  their  business. 

"  You  know,  Jackdaw,"  said  Roger  (when  I  was  at 
school  the  boys  all  called  me  Jackdaw;  one  reason  I 
suppose  was  that  I  was  so  dark  and  my  first  name  was 
Dawson),  "  it  is  some  months  since  the  New  England 
Hardware  people  hired  me  and  sent  me  to  Hartford 
as  assistant  in  their  store  there.  After  I  had  been  with 
them  for  a  month,  they  shifted  me  to  their  Providence 
store  for  a  month  as  assistant  manager.  From  there 
I  was  sent  out  as  traveling  inspector,  and  spent  two 
months  in  visiting  each  of  the  stores  and  spending  a 
day  or  two  at  each  one.  Then  I  was  called  to  New 
York  —  as  you  know,  they  have  their  head  office  there 
—  and  was  coached  in  methods  of  handling  the  records 
which  they  required  store  managers  to  send  in  to  the 
office. 

"  Not  only  did  they  tell  me  what  records  had  to  be 
made  out,  and  how  they  had  to  be  made  out,  but  they 
showed  me  what  happened  to  them  when  they  reached 
the  New  York  office,  and  also  explained  very  clearly 
the  need  for  all  those  records. 

"  I  learned  more  about  business,  Jackdaw,  in  those 
six  months  than  I  ever  knew  before.  They  didn't  just 
tell  me  what  to  do,  but  they  told  me  why  it  had  to  be 
done.  Every  question  that  I  asked  them  about  run- 


A  New  Competitor  225 

ning  a  store  they  answered  for  me.  No  trouble  seemed 
too  great  for  them  to  take,  if  it  was  going  to  help  me 
to  understand  how  they  did  business.  I  thought  they 
were  telling  me  altogether  too  much ;  they  were  telling 
me  the  secrets  of  the  conduct  of  the  business;  but  Mr. 
Marcosson  (he's  a  weird  combination  —  a  Scotchman 
with  a  sense  of  humor)  —  Mr.  Marcosson  is  the  gen- 
eral sales  manager  —  he  said  that  I  couldn't  be  any 
use  to  them,  unless  I  knew  all  about  the  business ;  what 
the  goods  would  cost  me  in  the  store,  how  much  profit 
I  ought  to  make,  how  much  turn-over  I  ought  to  get, 
and  Oh !  it  would  take  me  a  month  to  tell  you  all  the 
facts  they  gave  me. 

"  One  thing  has  stuck  out  clearly  in  my  mind  from 
this  training,  and  that  is,  that  I  can  do  my  work  for 
them  much  better  than  would  have  been  possible  if  I 
had  been  working  under  an  ordinary  store  proprietor. 
I  know  why  things  should  be  done.  There's  real  horse 
sense  at  the  back  of  every  move  they  take.  They  don't 
guess  at  things.  They  find  out.  If  you  were  to  ask 
me  what  accounts  for  the  big  success  of  chain-store 
organizations  I  should  say  that  it  is  that  the  chain- 
store  organization  knows  what  it  is  doing,  while  the 
ordinary  retailer  guesses  at  what  he  is  doing.  For 
instance,  they  are  looking  for  towns  for  two  men  who 
are  going  through  the  same  training  that  I  went 
through  — " 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,  Roger,"  I  broke  in,  "  that 
they  spent  six  months'  time  in  training  you,  when  you 
might  leave  them  at  any  minute?  " 

"  H'm,  h'm,"  said  Roger,  "  that's  a  fact.  Marcos- 
son  said  that,  as  soon  as  any  one  could  do  better  for 
me  than  they  could,  they  expected  me  to  leave.  And 


226       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

it  is  a  fact  that,  out  of  all  the  managers  they  have  had, 
only  three  of  them  have  left.  Of  course,  it's  a  fairly 
young  organization  —  been  in  existence  only  about  five 
or  six  years ;  but  the  employees  are  treated  so  well  that 
they  rarely  want  to  leave. 

"  You  know  I  get  an  interest  in  the  profits  the  store 
makes  — " 

And  that  reminded  me,  I  hadn't  yet  worked  out  that 
profit-sharing  plan  for  my  people!  It  had  been  no 
easy  job. 

"  Another  thing,"  continued  Roger,  "  Marcosson 
said  that  impressed  me  very  much.  '  We  are  going  to 
give  you  a  share  in  the  profits,  Mr.  Burns,'  he  said, 
'  because  we  believe  it  is  due  you.'  You  know,  Jack- 
daw, Marcosson  is  the  kind  of  man  you  can  speak 
right  out  to  —  not  the  kind  of  man  you  get  scared  of 
at  all ;  so  I  said  to  him :  'I've  heard  many  people  say 
that  profit-sharing  isn't  a  success.'  '  So  far  as  we  are 
concerned,  it  is,'  he  said.  '  Most  retailers  who  go  into 
profit-sharing  plans  go  into  them  with  but  a  very  slight 
study  of  the  problem.  They  don't  think  the  thing 
through  to  a  logical  conclusion,  and  they  put  into 
operation  some  half-baked  plan  which,  of  course,  does 
not  work  out  right,  and  then,  instead  of  blaming  the 
plan  they  damn  the  policy  as  a  whole !  Profit-sharing 
is  necessary  in  modern  retail  business ;  but  its  operation 
must  be  planned  in  a  common-sense  way  to  be  success- 
ful. One  might  just  as  well  complain  of  the  princi- 
ples of  arithmetic  because  one  cannot  do  a  sum  cor- 
rectly ! ' 

"  But  let  me  get  back  to  my  story  of  how  we  came 
here,"  said  Roger,  lighting  a  fresh  cigar.  .  .  . 

While  he  was  talking,  I  had  been  looking  at  Roger, 


A  New  Competitor  227 

and  comparing  him  to  the  old  Roger  Burns  I  had 
known  a  year  or  so  ago.  He  had  grown  bigger  — 
not  in  size,  you  understand,  but  he  was  a  bigger  man  — 
he  had  a  personality  which  he  never  had  had  before. 
He  had  more  confidence  in  himself,  and  I  attributed 
this  to  the  fact  that  he  was  sure  of  what  he  was  about. 
He  knew  exactly  what  was  expected  of  him  —  he  had 
been  trained  thoroughly  to  do  it,  and  that  had  given 
him  a  confidence  which  I  was  sure  will  make  for  his 
success  in  Farmdale.  Frankly,  I  felt  that,  as  a  com- 
petitor, he  was  going  to  be  a  much  keener  one  than 
Stigler  ever  had  been. 

"  The  New  England  Hardware  Company,"  contin- 
ued Roger,  "  has  money  enough  to  open  as  many  stores 
as  it  wishes ;  but  it  can  open  stores  only  as  quickly  as 
it  can  get  men.  So  the  first  thing  it  seeks  is  a  man 
who  is  likely  to  make  a  good  manager,  then  it  looks 
for  a  location  in  which  to  place  him." 

"Is  that  how  all  chain-store  organizations  do?"  I 
asked. 

"  No,"  replied  Roger.  "  Some  of  them  look  around 
for  towns  where  the  merchants  are  not  on  to  their  jobs. 
That's  the  way  some  of  the  big  drug  store  chains  in 
particular  operate.  They  go  around  to  the  towns 
where  the-  existing  drug-store  proprietors  are  dead, 
and  don't  know  it,  and  where  there  is  practically  no 
competition  for  them,  and  that's  where  they  open  the 
store. 

"  My  people  go  at  it  a  little  differently.  Where 
possible,  however,  they  try  to  open  a  store  with  a  man- 
ager who  is  known  in  the  location." 

"  Do  they  ever  buy  existing  stores  and  make  them 
part  of  the  chain?" 


228       Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  No,  although  some  chain  organizations  do  that." 

"  How  do  they  pick  out  the  towns  to  locate  in?  " 

"  When  they  look  for  a  town  in  which  to  locate  a 
store,  they  want  to  know  a  lot  of  facts  about  it.  They 
want  to  know,  for  example,  whether  the  town  covers 
a  large  area  or  not.  They  find  out  if  the  houses  are 
scattered,  or  if  the  dwellings  are  concentrated  in  a 
small  area.  They  like  a  town  that  is  a  trading  center 
for  neighboring  towns,  because  they  can  draw  from  all 
these  neighboring  towns  as  well  as  from  their  own 
local  trade.  If  it's  a  manufacturing  town,  they  want 
to  know  whether  the  factories  make  such  goods  as  will 
tend  to  make  the  labor  problem  steady.  For  instance, 
they  wouldn't  want  to  locate  in  a  town  which  was  al- 
ways having  labor  troubles,  or  where  there  were  peri- 
ods where  the  factories  have  to  close  down  because 
they  manufacture  seasonal  goods.  In  other  words, 
they  want  a  town  which  has  a  regular,  steady  trade 
all  the  year. 

"  A  good  residential  town,  of  course,  is  splendid  for 
them.  When  they  go  to  a  manufacturing  town  they 
pick  out,  wherever  possible,  a  town  which  has  a  diver- 
sified line  of  manufactories,  instead  of  one  which  is 
devoted  to  one  line  of  industry.  You  see,  that  helps 
to  avoid  slack  times,  because  if  one  line  is  slack  the 
other  is  inclined  to  be  busy.  See  my  point? 

"  Then  they  find  out  how  many  stores  in  their  line 
are  in  the  town,  and  if  they  look  alive  and  up  to 
date." 

"  Did  you  think  we  were  a  dead  lot  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Sorry  you  asked  me  that,"  said  Roger  with  a  grin. 
"  They  did.  Yes,  they  think  that  old  Barlow  has  the 
only  real  store  in  the  town." 


A  New  Competitor  229 

"  And  me  and  Stigler?  "  I  said  interestedly,  even  if 
ungrammatically. 

"  Well,  they  think  Stigler  is  a  joke,  and  that  you 
are  — "  he  hesitated  for  a  word  — "  inexperienced !  " 

"  So  they  think  that  Barlow, —  old-fashioned,  plug- 
along  Barlow  —  is  the  only  real  competitor  in  the 
town?" 

"  Yes.  You  see,  Barlow  does  twice  as  much  trade 
as  you  and  Stigler  put  together,  and  then  some." 

I  had  never  realized  before  that  Barlow  was  so  much 
a  bigger  man  than  I  was,  but  the  more  I  thought  of  it 
the  more  I  believed  that  the  chain-store  people  had 
sized  up  the  situation  correctly. 

"  Then,"  continued  Roger,  "  they  find  out  where  the 
people  live;  if  they  own  their  own  houses,  or  if  they 
rent  them.  Obviously,  a  town  where  people  own  their 
own  homes  is  going  to  offer  a  more  regular  and  per- 
manent trade  than  one  where  every  one  lives  in  rented 
houses.  Then  they  want  to  find  out  how  and  when 
the  great  number  of  employees  in  the  manufacturing 
plants  are  paid.  They  want  to  know  this  so  that  they 
can  offer  special  sale  goods  and  such-like  on  the  day 
that  the  people  get  the  money. 

That  was  a  new  one  on  me.  I  had  never  thought 
of  that  before. 

"Everybody  pays  on  Saturdays,  don't  they?"  I 
asked. 

"  Everybody  used  to,  but  it  is  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon, now,  for  factories  to  pay  the  help  on  Thursday 
and  Friday. 

"  When  they've  studied  this  question,  they  next 
study  the  business  streets  to  learn  which  are  the  most 
important. 


230       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  The  most  important  to  them  does  not  necessarily 
mean  the  main  street  of  the  town,  but  the  one  which 
offers  the  greatest  number  of  passersby,  who  are  likely 
to  be  customers.  For  instance,  they  want  to  know 
where  the  people  congregate  in  the  streets  in  the  eve- 
ning. Do  they  go  past  the  drug  store  and  past  the 
most  popular  movie  theater?  Do  the  men  go  through 
the  town  on  the  way  home,  or  can  they  get  home  with- 
out going  through  the  shopping  section  ? 

"  Now,  some  concerns,  such  as  the  big  chain  cigar 
store  people,  plan  to  get  the  corner  which  has  the  great- 
est number  of  people  passing  it.  They  have  tellers 
stand  outside  various  corners  and  count  the  number 
of  people  going  each  way  during  various  hours  of 
the  day.  But  our  people  do  differently,"  said  Roger, 
with  a  pride  that  made  me  realize  that  the  instruction 
they  had  given  him  had  certainly  developed  in  him  ab- 
solute confidence  in  his  people.  "  We  try  to  get  stores 
with  a  reasonable  rent  just  off  the  main  thoroughfares, 
but  so  located  that  we  catch  as  many  passersby  as  pos- 
sible. 

"  Now,  we  are  opening  in  Macey  Street,  although 
High  and  Main  are  unquestionably  our  two  main  thor- 
oughfares here." 

Macey  Street  is  a  narrow  street  running  from  the 
post-office,  which  is  on  Main  Street,  facing  Macey, 
and  connecting  with  High.  On  High  Street  is  the 
theater  and  two  of  the  moving-picture  houses.  The 
railroad  station,  also,  is  on  High,  a  little  way  from 
Macey. 

"  Now,  on  Main  Street,"  said  Roger,  "  are  all  our 
business  and  professional  men.  Their  best  way  to 
get  home  is  down  Macey  into  High,  either  to  the  depot 


»     A  New  Competitor  231 

or  to  the  trolley  junction  in  front  of  the  depot.  Thus 
you  see  we  catch  the  bulk  of  the  people  coming  from 
Main  to  High  and  from  High  to  Main.  The  rent  is 
even  less  than  you  pay,"  he  said  with  a  smile,  "  and 
yet  we  have  a  location  which  is  several  times  better 
than  yours." 

I  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to  kick  myself  when  he  said 
that.  If  I  had  only  known  that.  I  had  bought  the 
store,  but  I  had  never  even  thought  that  I  might  have 
gotten  a  better  location  than  I  had. 

"  Then  the  next  thing  we  have  to  consider,"  said 
Roger,  "  is  whether  or  not  we  are  on  the  right  side  of 
the  street.  Now,  you  may  or  may  not  know  it,  but 
the  right  side  of  the  street  is  the  one  which  has  the 
greatest  amount  of  shade  in  the  summer.  You  see,  in 
the  heat  of  the  summer,  people  prefer  to  walk  in  the 
shade,  and  consequently  they  take  the  shady  side  of 
the  street.  In  the  winter,  if  there  is  any  snow,  it 
makes  the  sunny  side  of  the  street  sloppy,  so  that  peo- 
ple still  walk  on  the  shady  side." 

"  H'm.  Stigler's  got  one  over  me,  then,  because  he's 
on  the  shady  side  of  the  road." 

"  Yes,  we  reckoned  that  Stigler  had  a  bit  better  loca- 
tion than  you  had.  But  he  evidently  does  not  know  it, 
else  he  wouldn't  have  wasted  that  money  opening  the 
five-and-ten-cent  store  next  door  to  you." 

"  He's  doing  a  big  business,"  I  said  ruefully. 

"  Wait  till  after  Christmas.  The  Christmas  season 
is  a  big  time  for  five-and-ten-cent  stores  such  as  his. 
But  wait  until  February,  and  he'll  '  find  it's  a  rocky 
road  to  Dublin.'  " 

I  certainly  felt  good  to  hear  that.     Roger  grinned. 

"  Tell  you,  old  man,"  he  said,  stretching  over  and 


232       Dawson  Slack:  Retail  Merchant 

putting  his  hand  on  my  knee,  "  I  don't  like  Stigler, 
and  I'd  like  to  go  for  his  scalp,  only  my  company  in- 
sists that  I'm  here  to  sell  goods  to  the  people,  and  not 
to  compete  with  any  one  else.  But,  if  the  time  ever 
comes  that  you  can  get  a  bit  better  location  than  you 
have,  do  so.  You  see,  old  man,  the  bulk  of  your 
people  have  to  go  to  the  store.  You  don't  get  a  great 
amount  of  people  passing  it  naturally. 

"  Another  reason  we  chose  this  location  is  that  we 
are  just  between  you  and  Barlow." 

"  How  is  that  any  help?  " 

"  Well,  it  helps  in  this  way.  Some  one  passing  your 
store  suddenly  remembers  that  she  wants  something  — 
a  saucepan,  let  us  say.  She  has  already  walked  by 
your  store  and  doesn't  bother  to  turn  back.  A  little 
later  on  she  comes  to  my  store.  I  get  the  benefit  of 
the  suggestions  which  occur  to  people  as  they  pass 
your  store." 

I  could  hardly  believe  that.  It  sounded  too  much 
like  —  oh,  quackery ;  and  I  told  Roger  so. 

"  All  right,  old  man,"  he  said  with  a  smile.  "  But 
have  you  ever  noticed  when  you  go  to  a  big  city  that 
you  will  find  a  man  at  one  corner  selling  apples  and 
then  there  is  a  man  on  the  next  corner  doing  the  same 
thing.  You  will  notice  how  people  pass  the  first  one, 
then  take  a  few  seconds  to  think  it  over,  or  the  sug- 
gestion is  just  a  little  one,  and  it  is  strengthened  when 
they  come  to  the  second  stand.  The  same  thing  ap- 
plies to  a  group  of  stores.  As  an  example  of  this: 
In  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  there  are  not  less  than  six  hard- 
ware stores  located  in  one  block.  That  town  of  sixty 
thousand  people  has  several  good  business  streets,  but 
this  group  of  stores  has  become  known  as  '  The  Hard- 


A  New  Competitor  233 

ware  Center '  and  people  gravitate  there  for  anything 
they  want  in  the  hardware  line.  Those  stores  benefit 
by  being  together.  The  same  thing  applies  in  a 
smaller  way  to  a  street  of  stores.  One  store  by  itself 
doesn't  impel  the  buying  instinct,  but  a  street  of  stores 
puts  the  thought  of  buying  into  the  minds  of  people 
pasing  them." 

Well,  that  certainly  was  mighty  interesting.  Roger 
silently  smoked  for  some  minutes.  I  thought  he  had 
finished  his  story,  but  there  was  more. 

"  Then,  when  we  had  got  the  store,"  .he  said,  "  we 
found  there  were  two  little  steps  leading  to  it.  We 
had  these  removed,  and  put  in  a  slope  from  the  street 
to  the  floor.  It  is  easier  for  people  to  walk  up  a  slope 
than  up  two  steps.  Then,  if  you  notice,  we  have  had 
the  windows  altered.  There  were  two  panes  in  each 
window.  We  have  had  them  taken  out  and  one  big 
glass  put  in  each  one.  Then  we  have  had  a  new  light- 
ing system  put  in.  And  then  you  notice  that  the  out- 
side of  the  store  has  been  painted  an  olive  green. 
That  is  the  distinctive  color  of  our  stores,  and  also  is 
a  color  which  harmonizes  with  our  goods. 

"  Now,  we  have  given  a  lot  of  care  to  lighting  and 
to  the  outside  appearance  of  the  store.  We  have  some 
good  display  counters  inside  the  store,  but  we  have 
only  cheap  deal  fixtures.  We  haven't  spent  much 
money  on  fixtures,  because  they  have  not  quick-asset 
value." 

"  What  in  the  name  of  thunder  is  that?  " 

"  Well,  a  quick-asset  value  is  the  value  that  an  arti- 
cle will  fetch  at  a  forced  sale,  and  it  is  the  policy  of 
the  company  to  invest  in  nothing  that  will  deteriorate 
as  rapidly  as  expensive  fixtures  do." 


234       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  It  certainly  is  wonderful,"  I  said.  "  They  seem 
to  have  thought  of  everything,  haven't  they?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed ;  even  to  the  point  that  we  have  a  lease 
on  the  store  with  a  clause  in  it  that,  if  we  give  it  up, 
it  is  not  to  be  rented  for  another  hardware  business 
for  at  least  twelve  months  after  the  expiration  of  our 
lease." 

"  Did  they  stand  for  that?  " 

"  You  bet  they  did." 

"What's  the  idea?" 

"  Well,  we  believe  we  have  the  best  location,  but  we 
are  not  sure.  Now,  if  we  find  in  two  or  three  years' 
time  that  we  haven't  got  the  location,  we  will  get  a 
better  one.  In  that  case,  we  are  not  going  to  make 
it  possible  for  some  one  to  take  that  same  location 
and  scoop  up  our  business,  because  another  hardware 
store,  coming  in  there,  would  reap  the  benefit  of  all 
the  publicity  we  gave  to  the  store.  Do  you  see  the 
point?" 

I  saw  the  point  all  right.  That  conversation  with 
Roger  Burns  was  a  revelation  to  me.  If  only  I  had 
given  the  same  thought  and  care  to  getting  a  store  how 
much  better  off  I'd  have  been! 

Another  thing  I  realized  from  Roger's  talk.  They 
plugged  ahead  steadily.  They  didn't  leave  anything 
undone.  They  didn't  make  any  false  moves;  while  I 
—  I  was  almost  a  joke! 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

SOME   IDEAS   ON    WINDOW    TRIMMING 

WE  had  been  increasing  our  sales  on  men's  toilet 
articles,  and  were  selling  anywhere  from  $5.0x3  to 
$10.00  worth  of  those  goods  a  week.  Mind  you,  not 
razors,  but  soap,  and  talcum  powder,  and  such-like. 

Larsen  had  been  studying  a  book  on  window  trim- 
ming, and  had  learned  that  there  were  two  ways  of 
trimming  windows.  One  way  was  to  put  in  a  lot  of 
goods  that  were  associated  with  each  other,  and  an- 
other was  to  put  in  just  one  class  of  goods  to  make  a 
forceful  appeal.  So,  Larsen  conceived  the  idea  of  a 
special  window  trim,  using  the  second  idea.  We  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  mixing  a  number  of  different  kinds 
of  goods  in  our  window.  His  idea  was  just  the  op- 
posite. 

The  display  was  to  be  of  the  Middle's  razor,  which 
I  sold  exclusively  in  our  town,  and  which  I  thought 
was  the  best  of  all  the  dollar  razors.  Well,  Larsen 
started  to  tell  me  his  idea ;  but  I  told  him  to  go  ahead 
and  work  it  out  in  his  own  way. 

He  got  some  cheap,  dark-blue  cloth,  and  hung  it  in 
a  semi-circle  in  the  window  from  top  to  bottom.  Then 
he  covered  the  floor  of  the  window  with  the  same 
material.  He  then  got  a  piece  of  cardboard  and  bent 
it  into  the  shape  of  a  cone  about  2  ft.  6  in.  at  the  base, 
and  not  above  half  an  inch  at  the  top.  This  he  also 

235 


236       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

covered  with  the  same  cloth,  placing  it  in  the  center  of 
the  window.  About  a  foot  above  the  cone  he  hung  a 
single  electric  bulb,  with  a  shade  over  it  made  of  card- 
board, and  again  covered  with  the  cloth.  The  light 
was  therefore  directed  full  on  the  top  of  the  cone, 
and  the  bulb  itself  was  out  of  sight.  There  was  no 
other  light  in  the  window.  On  the  apex  of  the  cone 
he  placed  one  Middle's  razor  —  not  in  the  box  —  oh, 
no.  He  took  the  razor  out  of  the  box,  fitted  a  blade 
into  it  and  rested  it  on  the  top  of  the  cone.  On  the 
floor,  resting  against  the  cone,  was  a  card  which  read 
as  follows : 


This  is  the  Middle's  Razor  —  the  safety  razor  that 
really  shaves.  It  is  quick,  clean,  and  comfortable  to  use. 
I  consider  this  razor  such  good  value  that  one  is  suffi- 
cient to  fill  the  window.  One  dollar  each. 

Come    inside    and    I'll    tell    you    why 
A  Middle's  Razor  you  should  buy. 

—  DAWSON  BLACK. 


When  I  saw  that  window  it  looked  to  me  like  a  joke. 
My  looks  evidently  indicated  that  to  Larsen.  I  had 
never  been  much  of  a  believer  in  stunts  for  window 
trimming.  I  had  thought  it  better  to  have  people  come 
into  the  store  and  buy  something,  than  just  say  what 
a  clever  window  display  we  had  —  and  walk  by.  I 
was  standing  outside  the  window,  looking  at  it,  when  \ 
Larsen  joined  me. 

"You  don't  like  it,  no?" 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "  it  looks  to  me  too  —  oh,  what's 
the  word  I  want  ?  —  oh,  you  know  what  I  mean  —  too 
smart-alecky !  "  We  both  laughed.  "  It  isn't  digni- 
fied enough,  you  know." 


I   WAS   STANDING  OUTSIDE  THE   WINDOW 


Some  Ideas  on  Window  Trimming    237 

"  Say,  Boss,"  said  Larsen,  and  then  he  couldn't  con- 
tinue on  account  of  a  coughing  spell.  Poor  old  Lar- 
sen. For  several  weeks  he  hadn't  been  feeling  right. 
He  had  caught  a  hard  cold  and  wouldn't  rest,  and  it 
didn't  seem  to  get  any  better.  It  had  worried  me 
sometimes,  because  he  wasn't  as  young  as  he  used  to 
be.  I  suggested  to  him  that  he  lay  off  work  for  a  lit- 
tle while,  but  he  wouldn't  hear  of  it. 

When  he  had  recovered  from  his  coughing  spell,  he 
said: 

"  Say,  Boss,  that  book  on  window  trimming.  It  say 
trim  with  one  line  of  goods.  All  razors,  or  all  scis- 
sors, make  folks  stop.  If  a  lot  make  'em  stop,  just  one 
by  itself  will.  Folks'll  come  across  the  road  to  see 
what  it  is." 

Well,  we  used  the  window  trim  as  it  was,  except 
that,  at  the  last  minute,  we  changed  the  sign. 

"  Do  you  remember  that  pencil  sharpener  salesman 
that  came  here?  "  I  asked  Larsen.  "  Remember  him 
telling  us  about  that  sale  of  women's  hats,  where  they 
could  get  in  only  by  ticket?  " 

"  No." 

"  Well,  it  was  a  Chicago  store.  They  sold  women's 
hats.  On  certain  days  you  could  get  into  the  store 
only  by  ticket,  and  the  store  was  swamped  with  people 
then,  because  —  oh,  I  don't  know  why,  but  they 
thought  that  they  were  favored  by  getting  the  ticket. 
Why  not  put  on  the  sign  that  these  razors  won't  be 
sold  until  Saturday?  " 

"  That's  good.  But  nothing  special  here  —  No 
new  style  like  in  women's  hats." 

"  Well,"  I  said,  defending  my  idea,  "  the  drug  stores 
sell  regular  candy,  special  on  Saturday." 


238       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Yep,  but  they  give  special  price.  We  ain't  cutting 
it." 

Then  Larsen  forgot  himself  and  slapped  me  on  the 
back,  saying :  "  I  got  it,  Boss.  Put  this  razor  on 
sale  Friday  and  Saturday  only,  and  give  a  can  of 
shaving  powder  to  each  customer !  " 

"  Heavens,  no !  Shaving  powder  sells  for  25 
cents." 

"  It  costs  us  only  twelve.  Razor  and  soap  together 
don't  cost  a  dollar.  We  make  profit  on  it,  and  —  and 
—  they  buy  more  powder  soon." 

Well,  we  did  it ;  we  added  to  the  sign :  "  To  every 
purchaser  of  a  Middle  Razor,  Friday  and  Saturday 
only,  will  be  given  a  can  of  Dulcet  Shaving  Powder." 

I  wanted  to  put  a  can  of  the  powder  in  the  window 
as  well,  but  Larsen  was  against  it;  and,  as  it  was  his 
show,  I  let  him  have  his  own  way  with  it. 

"  How  many  of  the  razors  have  we  in  stock  ?  "  I 
asked. 

"  We  got  three  dozen  last  week.  We  ain't  broke 
the  package  yet." 

"  Oh,  that'll  be  plenty,"  I  said.  .  .  . 

By  ten  thirty  Friday  morning  we  had  sold  every 
Middle's  Razor  in  stock,  and  I  had  telegraphed  for  six 
dozen  more  to  come  by  express.  As  they  were  made 
in  this  State,  they  should  arrive  the  first  thing  in  the 
morning.  By  Friday  night  I  had  orders  for  sixty- 
four  razors, —  and  I  also  had  had  to  telegraph  for 
more  shaving  powder.  Well,  up  to  closing  time  on 
Saturday,  we  had  sold  a  hundred  and  fifty-nine  Mid- 
dle's razors!  We  couldn't  supply  them,  of  course, 
although  the  six  dozen  we  had  ordered  came  in  time, 
so  we  merely  took  orders  on  Friday  afternoon  and 


Some  Ideas  on  Window  Trimming     239 

Saturday,  and  promised  to  deliver  the  razors  as  soon 
as  they  came.  In  practically  every  case,  however,  we 
had  got  the  money. 

Think  of  it,  a  hundred  and  fifty-nine  razors  in  our 
town.  I  couldn't  understand  why  so  many  people 
bought  them.  Also,  it  had  been  a  revelation  to  me  to 
find  how  many  women  had  come  in  for  this  bargain 
offer.  Two  or  three  people  had  come  on  Thursday  to 
buy  it,  but  we  wouldn't  sell  them.  That  window  cer- 
tainly had  attracted  a  lot  of  attention,  particularly  at 
night.  There  had  been  a  number  of  people  around  it 
all  the  time. 

Poor  Larsen  collapsed  altogether  from  the  strain  of 
the  two  busy  days,  and  had  to  place  himself  under  the 
doctor's  care. 

The  next  evening  I  called  at  the  doctor's  and  he  said 
that  Larsen  had  really  a  serious  illness. 

"  You  don't  mean,"  I  said,  "  that  there  is  any  chance 
that  he  will  — " 

The  doctor  was  silent  for  a  minute,  pursed  his  lips, 
then  said  slowly :  "  I  don't  know.  It  would  not  be  a 
serious  thing  for  a  young  man,  but  he  is  not  a  young 
man,  and  he  is  poorly  nourished." 

Larsen's  absence  certainly  made  Jones  and  Jimmie 
and  me  hustle.  In  the  first  place  I  had  to  take  out  that 
window  trim  of  the  Middle's  Razor,  for,  as  our  sale 
was  over,  we  did  not  want  to  keep  the  display  going. 
In  fact,  when  I  went  to  see  old  Larsen,  sick  as  he  was, 
his  first  weak  remark  had  been,  "  You  took  the  trim 
out,  Boss  ?  "  I  told  him  yes,  and  added  that  we  had  a 
fine  display  of  enamelware  in  its  place.  Mrs.  Larsen 
told  me  that  he  had  been  worrying  all  day.  He  seemed 
a  bit  easier  when  I  left. 


240       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

The  whole  week  was  a  week  of  trouble.  On  Tues- 
day morning  Henderson  was  driving  his  car  past  the 
store  and  frightened  Hay  wood's  old  horse  (poor  thing, 
I  never  thought  he  could  move  so  quickly)  so  that  he 
bolted  and  ran  his  foolish  old  head  through  the  store 
window  —  just  after  I  had  my  nice  display  of  enamel- 
ware  ready.  It  cost  me  over  thirty  dollars  to  get  it 
put  right. 

I  met  old  Barlow  at  the  filite  Restaurant  that  day 
and  he  remarked,  "  Makes  it  quite  inconvenient, 
doesn't  it  ?  Have  you  telephoned  the  insurance  people 
about  it  yet?" 

"  Insurance  people?  " 

"  Yes,  plate-glass  insurance  people." 

I  felt  the  color  surging  into  my  face  as  I  answered, 
"  Why,  no,  I  haven't  got  around  to  it  yet." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  didn't  even  know  I  could  in- 
sure my  plate-glass  windows.  It  was  another  loss  I 
had  to  bear  just  because  of  my  ignorance. 

There  was  one  funny  little  incident  in  connection 
with  the  broken  window-pane,  however,  and  it  came 
from  Jimmie.  When  I  got  back  to  the  store,  that 
freckled-face  rascal  said,  "  Gee,  Boss,  I've  got  a  whale 
of  an  idea!  " 

"What  is  it?"  tasked. 

"  Why  not  put  a  big  sign  in  the  window  offering  a 
ten  per  cent,  reduction  ?  " 

"  That's  a  silly  idea.     Why  should  we  do  that?  " 

"  You  don't  get  me,  Boss,"  he  said.  "  Here !  "  and 
he  handed  me  a  brick. 

"  What  am  I  to  do  with  this?  "  I  asked  in  surprise. 
"  Hit  people  on  the  head  as  they  go  by  the  store,  grab 
their  money  and  give  them  a  dishpan  in  its  place  ?  " 


Some  Ideas  on  Window  Trimming    241 

I  feared  Jimmie  would  burst  if  I  didn't  let  him 
finish  his  story. 

"  Put  the  brick  in  the  window,  Boss,"  he  said  ex- 
citedly, "  then  stick  a  sign  on  it  saying,  *  Who  threw 
this  brick  through  our  window,  and  knocked  ten  per 
cent,  off  the  price  of  everything?' 

It  sounded  silly;  but,  somehow,  it  interested  me.  I 
think  the  thing  that  interested  me  most  was  that 
Jimmie  should  be  looking  for  some  way  to  turn  mis- 
fortune into  profit.  At  any  rate,  I  put  that  sign  in 
the  window  just  as  Jimmie  suggested,  with  the  added 
line  that,  as  soon  as  the  window  was  repaired,  prices 
would  go  back  to  normal. 

I  believe  that  Jimmie  spent  every  minute  of  his 
spare  time  out  of  the  store  telling  people  to  come 
and  see  his  big  selling  idea,  for  numbers  of  people 
said  to  me,  "  Yes,  I  heard  about  your  window  with  the 
brick  from  your  errand  boy  —  smart  kid  that !  "  and 
then  they  would  grin.  It  got  me  some  business,  and 
started  a  lot  of  talking.  I  remembered  what  Barlow 
had  once  said  :  "  Keep  them  talking  about  you ;  and 
be  thankful  when  people  pitch  into  you.  Nobody 
ever  bothers  to  kick  a  dead  dog."  I  was  mighty  glad 
it  had  not  been  our  other  window,  though,  for  that 
had  contained  a  splendid  show  of  electrical  household 
goods. 

Wednesday  I  had  dinner  again  with  Roger  Burns. 
He  told  me  that  the  chain  store  for  which  he  was 
manager  had  opened  in  good  shape,  and  that  on  the 
opening  day  they  had  given  a  clock  calendar  to  the 
visitors  as  a  souvenir.  It  had  been  a  cheap  clock  in 
a  metal  frame,  so  made  that  it  would  either  hang  on 
the  wall  or  stand  on  a  shelf,  while  attached  to  it  below 


242       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

was  a  year's  calendar.     Above   the  clock  had  been 
written  the  slogan: 

"  All  the  time  is  the  right  time  to  buy  kitchen  goods 
from  the  New  England  Hardware  Company." 

Below  the  face  of  the  clock  was  the  address  and 
Roger  Burns'  name  as  manager. 

Roger  said  something,  that  night,  that  interested  me 
mightily. 

"  One  reason  why  chain  stores  make  a  success  is 
that  they  try  to  dominate  the  field  in  one  direction. 
For  example,  look  at  the  five-and-ten-cent  stores. 
Notice  how  they  all  dominate  any  other  store  of  their 
kind.  They  have  something  distinctive  and  unusual 
about  them.  Notice  the  places  of  the  big  drug  and 
tobacco  chain-store  systems.  They  dominate  in  some 
particular  way !  " 

That  word  "  dominate  "  stuck  in  my  mind.  "  How 
do  you  purpose  to  dominate  ?  "  I  asked  of  Roger. 

"  Well,  in  one  way  we  are  dominating  in  the  brush 
field  now.  At  our  new  store  here,  I  have  a  bigger 
variety  of  household  brushes  than  all  the  other  stores 
put  together.  We  have  anything  in  the  way  of  a  brush 
that  you  want;  and  they're  all  good  ones,  too.  .  .  . 
Most  people  dominate  in  some  way,"  he  continued. 
"  Mr.  Barlow  dominates  for  miles  around  in  agri- 
cultural implements." 

"And  I?"  I  said. 

"  Well,  you  are  hardly  dominating  yet,  but  you 
could,  if  you  wanted  to,  in  electrical  domestic  goods 
and  men's  toilet  goods." 

"  Good    Heavens,"    I    said,    "  they're    both    side 
lines!" 

"  Exactly,"  he  said,  "  but  you  were  the  first  in  town 


Some  Ideas  on  Window  Trimming     243 

to  push  those  side  lines,  so  you  scooped  up  the  new 
trade  for  that  kind  of  goods;  and,  if  any  one  gets 
after  your  scalp,  you  might  dominate  in  those  lines. 
Marcosson,  our  general  sales  manager,  says  that  the 
first  in  the  field  can  dominate  it  if  he  will  vigorously 
push  his  advantage.  Think  of  all  the  well-known  ad- 
vertised things  —  the  people  whose  names  are  most 
familiar  to  you  —  those  which  practically  dominate 
their  field  —  are  those  which  were  there  first." 

After  we  had  smoked  another  cigar,  we  parted,  but 
all  the  way  home,  that  one  word,  "  domination," 
stuck  in  my  mind.  I  had  what  I  had  thought  were 
two  profitable  side  lines ;  while  other  people  —  people 
who  should  know  —  looked  upon  them  as  something 
which  was  exclusively  mine.  Domination!  I  won- 
dered if  I  could  develop  some  special  lines,  such  as 
electrical  and  toilet  goods,  which  I  could  consistently 
and  persistently  push  until  every  one  in  town  would 
naturally  connect  my  name  with  those  goods  when- 
ever they  wanted  to  buy  them. 

There's  quite  a  fascination  about  the  word  "  domi- 
nation," isn't  there?  Everybody  dominates  in  some 
way.  There  was  Hardware  Times!  They  dominated 
in  the  trade-journal  field.  Roosevelt  dominates  in  ag- 
gressiveness. Edison  domniates  in  electrical  inven- 
tions. Burbank  dominates  in  growing  things.  Jim- 
mie  —  let's  see  what  Jimmie  dominated  in  —  well,  I 
guess  Jimmie  dominated  in  freckles.  George  Field, 
I  should  say,  would  dominate  in  good  nature.  I 
thought  it  would  be  interesting  to  have  a  little  game 
with  myself  in  looking  at  people  and  stores  and  places 
and  find  out  in  what  way  they  dominated  and  see  if 
from  this  kind  of  observation  I  could  find  out  not 


244       Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

only  in  what  they  dominated,  but  how  and  why  they 
dominated ! 

When  I  got  home  I  tried  for  an  hour  to  write 
slogans,  such  as  "If  it's  electrical  you  can  get  it  at 
Black's;"  "Go  to  Black's  for  a  white  deal;"  "You 
naturally  think  of  Black's  when  you  think  of  toilet 
goods ; "  and  such-like,  but  I  didn't  think  much  of 
them,  when  I  got  through. 

There  was  one  thing,  however,  that  I  decided  on  — 
and  that  was  to  increase  my  stock  of  those  goods 
with  which  I  meant  to  dominate  the  field.  I  would 
always  have  them  on  show  and  advertise  them  as  con- 
sistently as  my  small  advertising  allowance  would  per- 
mit. 

It  surely  had  been  a  dreadful  week  with  Larsen 
sick.  I  never  knew  how  much  I  had  been  leaning  on 
him.  When  he  came  back,  I  was  resolved,  to  look 
after  him  better  than  I  had  done  before.  I  guess 
there  are  a  lot  of  bosses,  the  same  as  I,  who  really 
don't  realize  how  valuable  their  employees  are  to  them 
until  they  have  lost  them.  Some  employees  probably 
dominate  —  there's  that  word  dominate  again !  —  in 
some  phase  of  the  store's  activities  in  such  an  un- 
obtrusive way  that  their  work  is  not  appreciated  as 
it  should  be.  The  trouble  is  that  the  good  worker  is 
usually  a  poor  self -advertiser,  wrhile  the  clever  self- 
advertiser  often  cannot  deliver  the  goods  that  he  is 
advertising.  I  determined  that,  if  ever  I  got  a  really 
big  store  with  a  lot  of  help,  I  would  find  some  way 
of  knowing  what  every  one  did,  so  that  the  fellow 
that  did  things  would  not  be  pushed  to  one  side 
by  the  fellow  who  merely  elevated  himself  with 
talk. 


Some  Ideas  on  Window  Trimming    245 

Just  as  I  was  going  to  bed  I  had  an  inspiration, 
and  I  found  what  I  would  try  to  dominate  in  — 
SERVICE! 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

A    BUSINESS    PROPOSITION 

WHEN  the  Mater  got  back,  I  felt  more  like  a  human 
being  again.  What  a  wonderful  thing  a  mother  is! 
A  fellow  doesn't  realize  how  much  his  mother  means 
to  him  until  he  wants  her  badly. 

Harrington's  demand  that  I  pay  off  the  mortgage 
on  the  farm  had  been  worrying  me,  so  I  went  to  the 
bank  and  saw  Mr.  Blickens  to  find  out  if  I  could  get 
the  bank  to  lend  me  the  necessary  $1,250.00.  Blick- 
ens said  the  bank  couldn't  possibly  do  it,  but  that  he 
knew  a  private  individual  who  could  perhaps  be  in- 
duced to  take  over  the  mortgage.  I  asked  him  to 
look  into  it  and  let  me  know. 

A  couple  of  days  afterward  he  telephoned  me  to  call 
and  see  him,  and  then  he  told  me  that  he  could  raise 
the  $1,250.00,  to  be  covered  by  a  first  mortgage  on 
the  farm;  but  that,  on  account  of  the  unsalability  of 
the  property  at  a  forced  sale,  his  friend  would  have 
to  have  ten  per  cent,  interest. 

I  whistled  at  this. 

"  Well,  take  it  or  leave  it,  my  young  friend,"  he 
said.  "If  you  can  do  better,  why  do  it ;  but  remember 
that  Barrington  will  foreclose,  unless  you  raise  that 
money  for  him  by  the  first  of  February." 

Blickens  had  a  note  all  made  out,  and  I  noticed  his 
name  appeared  on  it. 

246 


A  Business  Proposition  247 

"I  —  I  thought  it  was  —  some  one  you  knew  who 
was  going  to  — " 

"  A  mere  formality;  I  am  just  doing  it  for  a  friend." 

I  knew  at  once  that  Blickens  was  his  own  friend 
in  this  case.  I  noticed  also  that  I  had  to  reduce  the 
loan  at  the  rate  of  $50.00  a  month. 

"  That  may  seem  a  high  rate  of  interest  to  you," 
said  Blickens,  smoothly ;  "  but  really  I  am  doing  it  for 
your  good." 

That  was  what  Dad  had  always  said  when  he 
spanked  me,  but  I  never  could  see  it  his  way! 

There  was  nothing  else  to  do,  so  I  closed  the  deal 
with  him  and  the  mortgage  was  transferred  from  Bar- 
rington  to  Blickens,  who,  I  guess,  borrowed  the  money 
himself  from  the  bank  at  three  or  four  per  cent.,  and 
pocketed  the  difference  for  his  trouble.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  there  were  more  ways  than  one  of  making 
money  in  a  bank. 

That  day  I  lunched  at  the  filite  Restaurant,  where 
I  met  old  Barlow.  To  my  surprise  he  asked  me  to 
go  around  to  his  house  to  dinner  that  night.  I  told 
him  that  I  couldn't  do  that  very  well,  because  the 
Mater  had  just  come  home. 

"  Bring  her  with  you,"  he  said ;  so  the  Mater  and 
I  went  to  Barlow's  house,  where,  for  the  first  time, 
I  met  Mrs.  Barlow. 

Mrs.  Barlow  had  been  an  invalid  for  a  number  of 
years  and  consequently  had  not  been  a  factor  in  such 
social  life  as  Farmdale  boasted  of.  I  was  surprised 
to  see  how  different  Mr.  Barlow  was  while  with  his 
wife  —  as  sweet  and  kindly  and  gentle  as  a  woman. 
I  couldn't  help  comparing  the  difference  between  him 
at  his  home  and  at  his  business.  There,  while  always 


248       fiawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

courteous,  he  was  considered  cold  and  hard  and  exact- 
ing. When  I  came  to  think  of  it,  however,  I  was  not 
surprised  at  finding  him  so  kindly,  considerate  and 
full  of  love  for  his  wife,  because  I  remembered  the 
many  kindnesses  and  quiet  help  that  he  had  given  me. 

After  dinner  Mrs.  Barlow  and  the  Mater  went  up 
to  the  little  sitting-room,  while  he  and  I  stayed  be- 
hind to  smoke  a  cigar.  We  smoked  in  silence  for  a 
while.  Then  Barlow  said  abruptly,  "  By  the  way, 
Dawson,  do  you  know  how  many  automobiles  went 
through  Farmdale  last  summer  ?  " 

"  No,"  I  said,  "  I  haven't  the  least  idea  —  nor 
frankly  any  interest,  either.  I  don't  own  a  car." 

"  Neither  do  I,"  he  said  (he  didn't,  but  he  owned 
the  finest  pair  of  trotters  in  the  county),  "but  we 
have  some  interest  in  everything  that  affects  Farm- 
dale." 

"  Surely,"  I  returned,  "  and  I  quite  agree  that,  if 
a  lot  of  automobiles  come  through  Farmdale,  and  stop 
at  the  Farmdale  House,  it  helps  their  business  and  in- 
directly helps  us." 

"  One  hundred  and  seventeen  a  day,"  said  Bar- 
low. 

"  One  hundred  and  seventeen  what  a  day?  " 

"  One  hundred  and  seventeen  automobiles  a  day. 
Every  day  from  April  to  October,  an  average  of  a 
hundred  and  seventeen  automobiles  passed  through 
Farmdale." 

I  didn't  know  what  he  meant. 

"  Frankly,  Mr.  Barlow,  I  know  you  have  a  good  idea 
in  mind,  but  really  I  don't  see  what  you're  driving 
at." 

"  About    twenty- four    thousand    automobiles    alto- 


A  Business  Proposition  249 

gether  come  in  and  out  of  Farmdale  during  the 
summer  season.  If  only  ten  per  cent,  of  those  people 
stopped  here  for  gasoline,  and  bought  an  average  of 
ten  gallons  each,  there  would  have  been  sold  23,570 
gallons  of  gasoline.  Suppose  there  was  only  a  profit 
of  three  cents  a  gallon  on  that,  it  would  have  meant 
a  net  income  of  $707.10.  Now  I  think  that  figure 
could  probably  be  multiplied  by  three,  although,  of 
course,  I  don't  know  how  many  stopped  here,  and 
how  much  gas  they  bought.  We  have  only  two 
garages  in  this  town.  One  is  a  fairly  good  one, 
Martin's,  and  the  other,  Joe  Sneider's  —  well,  I'd 
sooner  trust  my  car,  if  I  had  one,  to  Stigler  than  to 
Joe  Sneider." 

It  was  a  fact  that  Sneider  had  a  very  bad  reputation 
around  town.  Indeed,  they  called  him  the  legalized 
robber. 

"  So  we  may  say,"  continued  Barlow,  "  that  there 
is  only  one  real  garage  in  town.  There  are  eighty- 
four  automobiles  registered  in  this  town,  but  we  are 
near  enough  to  Harton  for  many  of  our  people  to  go 
there  for  all  repairs.  You  see,  the  makers  have 
agencies  there,  and  that  is  one  reason  why  they  go 
there  for  all  car  adjustments  and  new  parts.  The 
other  reason  is  that  Martin  has  more  work  than  he 
can  possibly  take  care  of." 

"  Say,"  I  broke  in  impetuously,  "  are  you  thinking 
of  opening  a  garage?" 

"  Not  by  any  means,"  laughed  Barlow,  "  but  you're 
situated  in  one  end  of  the  town,  and  I  am  at  the 
other.  People  coming  in  or  out  of  town  have  to 
pass  both  our  stores.  I  have  had  a  very  good  contract 
offered  me  for  Starling  gasoline;  but  I  don't  think  I 


250       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

could  sell  all  they  want  me  to  take.  Now,  how  would 
you  like  to  sell  gasoline  and  join  me  in  this  con- 
tract?" 

"  But,  Mr.  Barlow,  I'm  a  hardware  man  —  I'm 
not — "  and  then  I  stopped,  remembering  how  old 
Larsen  felt  at  that  attitude  and  how  he  jeered  at  the 
tendency  of  all-too-many  hardware  men  to  let  drug 
stores  and  department  stores  sell  legitimate  hardware 
lines,  and  do  nothing  but  retaliate ;  and  so  I  finished, 
"  but  I'm  not  averse  to  adding  to  my  line,  if  I  can  see 
a  profit  in  it." 

Barlow  noticed  the  change  in  thought  and  smiled. 

'You  think  it  over  to-morrow;  and  if  you  would 
like  to  join  me  in  it,  why  I  don't  see  why  we  shouldn't 
both  make  some  money  out  of  it." 

Then  I  remembered  the  state  of  my  bank  account. 
It  reminded  me  of  the  story  of  the  man  who  com- 
plained that  some  one  had  broken  into  his  house  and 
stolen  his  over-draft. 

"  I'm  very  sorry,  sir,  but  I  haven't  the  money  to 
do  it." 

"  If  you  had  the  money,  you  think  you  would  like 
to  do  it?" 

"  Why,  yes,  it  looks  good  to  me  on  those  figures  you 
state." 

"  Well,  suppose  I  were  to  buy  all  the  stock,  and 
pay  for  it,  and  then  charge  it  up  to  you  at  half  a  cent 
a  gallon  profit,  and  then  let  you  pay  me  each  week  for 
what  you  have  sold.  You  would  perhaps  be  interested 
in  buying  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed.  But  frankly,  Mr.  Barlow,  I  can't  see 
why  you  would  want  to  do  that." 

"  The  reason  is,  young  man,"  said  Barlow  grimly, 


A  Business  Proposition  251 

"that,  if  I  contract  for  twenty-five  thousand  gallons 
I  can  get  a  much  better  price  than  if  I  contract  for, 
let  us  say,  half  that  amount.  Also,  I  don't  think  I 
could  sell  it  all  from  my  store.  The  garage  is  near 
the  center  of  the  town;  so  that,  unless  some  one  is 
selling  gas  the  other  side  of  the  garage  man,  his  would 
be  the  first  station  reached  by  people  entering  the  town 
from  that  side.  Consequently,  he  would  get  half  the 
trade.  Now,  he  runs  a  competing  gas  station,  so  I 
couldn't  possibly  work  with  him.  Hence  I  am  willing 
to  back  you  on  this,  because  it  won't  cost  me  any- 
thing. And  even  if  I  make  half  a  cent  on  all  you  use, 
it  doesn't  cost  you  anything,  because  you  buy  at  even 
less  than  you  would  buy  a  smaller  quantity  direct  from 
the  Starling  people." 

Pretty  shrewd  reasoning,  wasn't  it?  When  I  got 
home,  I  talked  it  over  with  the  Mater.  She  said, 
"  But,  Dawson,  my  boy,  if  people  were  to  stop  at  your 
store  and  buy  some  gasoline  "  (the  Mater  is  very  old- 
fashioned,  and  doesn't  believe  in  clipping  words  and 
thinks  it  vulgar  to  call  it  "gas"),  "would  not  some 
of  the  owners  of  the  automobiles  want  supplies  of 
different  kinds,  and  if  they  want  supplies,  aren't  they 
likely  to  go  to  the  garage  for  them,  and  then  buy  their 
gasoline  there?  Now,  Mr.  Martin  is  a  very  nice 
gentleman,  and  you  don't  want  to  do  anything  that 
will  hurt  him — " 

"  Unless  I  can  materially  help  myself !  " 

The  Mater  shook  her  head.  "  These  new-fangled 
business  ideas  are  strange  to  me." 

But  what  the  Mater  said  made  me  think;  so  that, 
in  the  morning,  I  went  to  Barlow  and  told  him  I  would 
really  like  to  go  into  the  gasoline  business,  but  that, 


252       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

if  I  did,  I  would  have  to  go  into  the  automobile  acces- 
sory business  also. 

"  When  any  one  is  buying  gas,"  I  said,  "  they  are 
good  prospects  for  oil  and  accessories  generally.  If 
a  man  has  a  break-down,  why  that's  a  job  for  the 
garage;  but,  if  he  wants  only  supplies,  I  don't  see  why 
he  couldn't  get  them  from  a  hardware  store  just  as 
well  as  anywhere  else.  Now,  Mr.  Barlow,  I'll  gladly 
pay  you  that  half  a  cent  on  the  gas,  and  I'll  push  it 
for  you  all  I  can,  but  I  feel  that  I  would  have  to  sell 
automobile  accessories  too.  So,  if  you  will  buy  ac- 
cessories also,  and  let  me  have  a  small  stock,  on  sale 
or  return,  for  just  three  months,  I  will  pay  you  a  small 
percentage  of  profit  for  your  help,  and  guarantee,  at 
the  end  of  the  three  months,  to  carry  my  own  auto- 
mobile department  without  any  help  from  you." 

He  tapped  his  counter  slowly  with  his  pencil  for  a 
few  moments. 

"  I  don't  want  to  go  into  the  automobile  accessory 
business.  I  have  no  room  for  it  at  all;  but  I  do 
want  to  sell  gasoline  because  it  is  easily  handled  and 
earns  a  good  profit.  However,  I  will  help  you  to  get 
a  supply  of  accessories.  You  go  to  Boston  and  find 
out  just  what  it  will  cost  you.  Go  and  see  Alex 
Cantling  of  Cantling  &  Farmer.  They're  big 
machinery  people,  and  Alex  Cantling  is  a  good  friend 
of  mine,  and  is  as  shrewd  a  man  as  there  is  in  the 
trade.  Ask  him  how  much  you  would  have  to  buy, 
and  then  come  back  and  tell  me.  If  it  is  a  nominal 
amount  to  start  with,  I  wouldn't  mind  guaranteeing 
the  account  for  you  for  three  months.  Now  you  will 
have  to  excuse  me,  for  I  am  very  busy.  Come  and 
see  me  as  soon  as  you  get  the  thing  worked  out." 


A  Business  Proposition  253 

"  When  are  you  going  to  start  the  gas?  "  I  asked. 

"  Not  before  April.  By  the  way,"  said  he,  putting 
his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  "  I  must  ask  you  not  to  say 
a  word  of  this  to  any  one." 

"  But  I  have  already  mentioned  it  to  the  Mater." 

"  H'm.  Well,  would  you  ask  her  please  not  to 
mention  it  to  any  one?  If,  by  any  chance,  she  has,  I 
must  reserve  the  right  to  call  off  all  offers.  By  the 
way,  I  expect  my  boy,  Fred,  home  in  about  a  month's 
time." 

Fred  was  old  Barlow's  one  and  only  child.  He  had 
been  in  Detroit,  working  in  a  big  automobile  shop 
for  some  time,  and  I  had  understood  that  he  was 
coming  back  on  a  visit  to  Farmdale.  The  old  man 
and  Fred  had  never  got  along  very  well  together,  and 
Fred  had  left  because  the  old  man  wanted  him  to 
work  in  the  store  and  he  positively  refused  to  do  so. 

I  didn't  know  what  it  all  meant,  but  I  had  a  feel- 
ing that  Barlow  wasn't  offering  to  set  me  up  in  the 
automobile  business  just  out  of  love  for  me.  He  had 
some  other  reason  for  it  and  I  decided  to  think  twice 
before  I  definitely  accepted.  I  knew  he  would  give  me 
a  square  deal,  because  he  was  such  a  white  man,  but 
it  looked  almost  too  good  to  be  true  that  he  would 
carry  a  gas  account  for  me,  and  then  guarantee  an 
automobile  accessory  account  for  three  months.  He 
had  never  asked  even  for  a  note,  or  anything,  for 
his  own  protection.  • 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

DOMINATING   IN    SERVICE 

THE  sun  had  begun  to  shine  once  more.  I  had  a 
feeling  as  if  a  little  dicky-bird  were  singing  in  my 
heart.  There  was  blue  again  in  the  sky  and  the  wind 
didn't  always  come  from  the  East.  I  had  received 
a  night  letter  from  Betty.  She  was  leaving  Birming- 
ham the  next  week  and  was  going  with  the  aunt  to 
a  place  she  had  in  Florida  to  stay  there  a  month,  and 
then  she  was  coming  right  home!  I  don't  think  I 
had  realized  how  much  I  missed  my  dear  one  until 
I  found  she  was  coming  home  and  was  feeling  her- 
self again.  I  had  just  finished  reading  the  telegram 
when  the  Mater  came  downstairs,  and  in  my  joy  I 
caught  her  around  the  waist  and  swung  her  round 
twice  until  her  feet  left  the  floor. 

"  Mercy  on  us ! "  she  exclaimed,  as  I  set  her  on  a 
chair  gasping,  "what  has  got  into  the  boy?" 

"  Just  happiness,  that's  all !  Betty  is  coming  home 
in  a  month." 

"  Gracious,"  said  Mater,  with  a  twinkle  in  her  eye, 
"  I  really  thought  it  was  something  important !  " 

When  I  got  down  to  the  store  who  did  I  see  but 
Larsen,  still  weak  and  very  pale,  but  dear  old  Larsen 
back  again.  I  suppose  I'm  sentimental,  but  I  had 
grown  to  like  the  old  chap,  and  it  sure  had  been  mighty 
hard  while  he  was  away. 

The  doctor  had  said  he  could  come  down  for  two 

254 


Dominating  in  Service  255 

or  three  hours  each  day  for  a  few  weeks,  but  must 
not  put  in  his  full  time  yet. 

Of  course  I  had  paid  him  his  salary  all  the  time 
he  was  away,  and  would  continue  to  do  so,  for  I'd 
come  to  realize  that  a  boss  owes  it  to  his  employees 
to  look  after  them  if  they  are  in  hard  luck,  and  in- 
cidentally it  is  good  business  to  keep  one's  employees 
happy.  I  believe  that  happy,  cheerful  employees  keep 
the  cash  register  ringing,  "  Welcome,  little  stranger  " 
chimes. 

Just  as  I  got  in,  old  Peter  Bender,  the  carpenter, 
came  in  the  store.  He  came  very  seldom,  for,  since  I 
had  stopped  his  credit,  he  could  only  come  when  he 
was  able  to  pay  cash.  Now,  before  I  tell  you  what 
happened,  I  must  remind  you  of  what  had  taken  place 
some  few  months  before  when  I  pulled  off  my  stunt 
of  buying  mail-order  catalogs.  Well,  for  a  time  it 
had  looked  as  if  the  stunt  had  done  good  to  every 
merchant  in  the  town;  but  it  wasn't  very  long  before 
mail-order  catalogs  were  in  town  again  as  thick  as 
ever. 

I  had  had  an  occasional  "  ad  "  in  our  local  paper 
saying,  "  Buy  it  in  town  if  the  price  is  right,  but  don't 
pay  more  than  you  can  buy  it  for  elsewhere.  If  it  is 
anything  in  hardware,  I  will  guarantee  to  supply  it 
at  the  same  price  as  the  mail-order  houses,  and  you 
can  see  what  you  are  getting  before  you  buy  it." 

I  don't  think  the  "  ad  "  had  done  us  a  great  deal 
of  good  generally,  but  there  were  a  few  people,  who 
used  to  buy  from  the  mail-order  houses,  who  had  begun 
to  buy  from  me. 

Now,  I'll  tell  you  what  happened  between  Peter  and 
Larsen. 


256       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  I  want  an  ax  like  this  'ere  one,"  Peter  said,  dis- 
playing the  picture  of  an  ax  in  a  mail-order  catalog 
which  he  had  with  him.  "  How  much  is  it  ?  " 

"  Seventy-five  cents,"  said  Larsen. 

"  A-ha !  "  snarled  Peter,  "  I'll  give  yer  sixty-three 
cents  for  it.  Yer  say  yer  can  sell  it  as  cheap  as  a  mail- 
order house  —  and  that's  their  price !  "  He  put  his 
finger  on  the  catalog  to  verify  his  statement. 

"  All  right,"  said  Larsen.  Whereupon  Bender 
belligerently  planted  sixty-three  cents  on  the  counter. 

"  Hold  hard,"  continued  Larsen.  "  Gimme  three 
cents  for  the  money  order,  a  cent  for  yer  letter  paper, 
and  two  cents  for  the  stamp.  That's  another  six 
cents.  That's  fair,  you  know  —  you  must  pay  us 
what  it  would  have  cost  yer." 

Peter  looked  at  me.  "  Guess  you're  right,"  he  said, 
and  threw  the  other  six  cents  on  the  counter. 

"  Now,"  said  Larsen,  as  he  picked  up  the  money, 
"  you  come  back  in  three  weeks.  You  can  then  have 
the  ax." 

"  What  do  yer  mean?  "  asked  old  Peter,  with  aston- 
ishment. 

"  You  sent  Chicago,  that's  how  long  you  wait  to 
get  it." 

"  Well,  I  want  it  now." 

"  Yep,  but  not  from  a  mail-order  house,"  said 
Larsen. 

"  What  will  I  have  to  pay  to  get  it  at  once  ?  " 

"  Six  cents  more  —  that's  seventy-five  cents. 
Otherwise  yer  can't  have  it  fer  three  weeks.  But  yer 
can  look  at  it  now,  if  yer  want  ter,  so  yer'll  see  what 
yer  will  get !  " 

"  Aw,  cut  out  the  funny  stuff !  "  said  Peter,  putting 


Dominating  in  Service  257 

his  hand  in  his  pocket,  from  which  he  produced 
another  six  cents.  "  It's  worth  it  to  get  it  right 
away." 

Larsen  wrapped  up  the  ax  and  passed  it  over  to  him, 
and,  to  my  surprise,  old  Bender  said :  "  I  guess 
you're  about  right  on  this  thing,  after  all.  You  know 
I  never  sized  it  up  like  that  'til  you  pointed  it  out  to 
me.  Here,"  and  he  tossed  the  catalog  on  the  counter, 
"  I  guess  I  won't  need  this  no  more." 

Larsen  had  handled  several  customers  in  the  past 
in  a  similar  way  to  this,  and,  in  nearly  every  case, 
had  won  a  friend  for  us  and  the  mail-order  houses  had 
lost  a  customer. 

You  remember  I  had  decided  that  I  would  dominate 
in  service?  Well,  I  got  hold  of  Fellows  of  the 
Flaxon  Advertising  Company,  and  told  him  what  I 
wanted  and  that  I'd  a  hunch  that  if  I  had  a  little  leaf- 
let or  something  of  that  kind,  telling  people  I  wanted 
to  give  them  service,  and  put  the  leaflet  in  all  the  pack- 
ages that  left  the  store,  it  would  help  out  a  lot.  I  gave 
him  a  few  ideas  I  had  on  it  and  asked  him  to  work 
up  a  little  folder.  When  I  received  the  layout  of  it 
I  was  tickled  with  it.  It  was  so  good  that  I  ordered 
some  at  once.  The  beauty  of  the  folder  was  that  it 
didn't  matter  what  you  were  selling  or  who  you  were 
selling  to,  it  applied,  because  it  was  general,  not 
specific. 

Fellows  told  me  I  ought  to  copyright  the  idea  and 
then  sell  it  to  other  stores  in  other  towns.  I  told  him 
he  could  do  that  —  I  was  in  the  hardware  business 
—  not  the  advertising  business. 

I  give  this  little  folder  here,  because  I  thought  it 
was  very  good. 


258      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

It  had  four  pages  and  the  size  of  it  was  about  4  x 
inches. 


WE  ARE  IN  BUSINESS 

TO  SELL  GOODS 
THAT  WON'T  COME  BACK 
TO  FRIEND-CUSTOMERS 
WHO  WILL 


This  one-minute  sales  talk  tells  how 
we  try  to  do  it 


THE  BLACK  HARDWARE  STORE 
32  Hill  Street,  Farmdale 


Dominating  in  Service  259 


A  well-known  business  man  once  said  that  sales- 
manship "  is  selling  goods,  that  won't  come  back,  to 
customers  —  who  will." 

It  requires  more  than  salesmanship  to  do  this  —  it 
also  requires  fcwymanship  and  service. 

We  realize  this.  We  know  that  every  purchase 
you  make  in  our  store  must  have  service  with  it. 

Service  —  good  service  —  is  supplying  your  needs 
in  the  best,  quickest,  and  most  economical  way. 

So  we  start  by  buying  right.  When  a  clever 
salesman  offers  us  some  job  goods  at  a  long-profit 
price,  we  just  can't  hear  him,  but,  when  he  offers 
us  goods  that  will  win  us  satisfied  friend-custom- 
ers, we  can  easily  hear  his  faintest  whisper. 

We  don't  blindly  take  his  word  for  it,  either ;  for, 
while  we  have  a  lot  to  learn,  we  know  how  to  judge 
values,  because  we  know  our  business  —  we  are 
practical. 

But  service  does  not  stop  here.  Our  goods  must 
be  kept  in  perfect  condition.  Our  goods  must  never 
get  into  a  "  frowsty,"  shop-damaged  state. 

Careful  buying  helps  us  to  get  goods  that  com- 
mand a  ready  sale.  They  are  fitted  exactly  to  our 
friend-customers'  needs. 


260       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 


This  is  why  we  have  earned  the  confidence  and 
good-will  of  so  many  people.  They  know  they  get 
what  they  need  —  and  not  just  what  a  salesman 
wants  to  get  rid  of. 

We  sometimes  refuse  to  sell  to  a  customer  be- 
cause we  know  that  he  needs  something  different 
from  what  we  have. 

Sounds  funny,  doesn't  it,  to  turn  money  away? 
But  it  pays  us,  because  people  know  we  consider 
their  needs  first  —  our  welfare  automatically  fol- 
lows. 

Most  stores  have  policies.  One  of  ours  is: 
"  No  goods  must  be  sold,  unless  they  will  be  of  real 
service  to  the  customer." 

Another  fixed  policy  is :  "  We  must  show  our 
friend-customers  by  our  conduct  that  we  are  glad 
to  serve  them." 

Here's  a  confession.  We  actually  make  a  profit 
on  everything  we  sell.  Doesn't  matter  what  you 
buy,  we  make  something  on  the  deal. 

We  think  it  better  to  do  this  than  to  "  cut "  the 
price  on  some  goods  and  add  it  on  to  others.  Don't 
you? 

Just  one  other  thing.  There's  no  such  word  as 
"  trouble  "  in  our  dictionary.  We  are  glad  to  go 
out  of  our  way  to  supply  your  unusual  needs. 


Dominating  in  Service  261 


This  little  sales  talk  is  neatly  printed  for  you  to 
read ;  we  mean  every  word  of  it. 

We  would  like  to  tell  it  to  you  in  person  if  we 
could  — 

Of  course !     So  we  can.     We  can  prove  it  all  to 
you  by  deeds! 

Call  and  look  at  our  goods;  then  check  up  our 
service  by  this  sales  talk. 


262       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

At  the  bottom  of  the  fourth  page  appeared,  "  Yours 
for  hardware  service,  Dawson  Black,"  reproduced  in 
my  own  handwriting. 

"Get  the  idea?"  said  Fellows.  "If  you're  a 
grocer,  you  could  write,  '  Yours  for  grocery  service, 
John  Brown,'  or  if  a  retail  merchant  wanted  to  special- 
ize on  one  particular  thing  he  could  say,  '  Yours  for 
carpet  cleaning  service,'  or  anything  he  liked." 

The  whole  thing  was  so  worded  as  to  fit  in  with 
any  kind  of  goods  one  might  be  selling. 

Fellows  said  he  would  look  after  the  printing  of 
the  circulars  and  supply  them  to  me  at  a  very  low 
price,  four  dollars  a  thousand ;  and  he  said  he  wouldn't 
charge  me  anything  at  all  for  working  up  the  idea,  be- 
cause he  was  going  to  try  to  sell  some  of  the  folders 
to  other  stores  in  other  towns.  I  didn't  mind  what 
he  did  with  it,  for  it  let  me  out  very  cheaply.  He 
said  he  would  let  me  have  some  in  a  week,  so  I  ordered 
two  thousand  to  begin  with.  I  was  going  to  put  one 
in  each  package,  and  mail  one  to  every  one  of  our 
charge  customers,  besides  sending  them  to  a  select  list 
of  "prospects." 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

A   NEW   THOUGHT   ON   RETAIL  SELLING 

As  soon  as  I  had  time,  I  went  to  Boston  and  saw 
Alex  Cantling,  as  Barlow  had  suggested,  to  find  out 
how  much  money  it  would  take  to  start  an  automobile 
accessory  department. 

Alex  Cantling  was  a  big-boned,  clean-shaven, 
healthy-looking  man.  He  was  what  I  would  call  a 
brass-tack  man.  When  I  told  him  my  business,  he 
pushed  his  papers  aside  and  gave  me  his  undivided 
attention.  Then  after  a  little  while  he  did  some  figur- 
ing on  a  piece  of  paper. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  should  say  you  would  want  to 
spend  at  least  five  hundred  dollars  for  such  a  depart- 
ment." 

He  promised  to  work  out  and  send  to  me  a  list  of 
the  different  items  which  I  ought  to  stock,  and  he 
also  gave  me  the  name  of  one  or  two  good  people  to 
buy  my  supplies  from. 

"  Now,  come  along  and  have  some  lunch  with  me," 
and  he  took  me  to  a  place  near  Faneuil  Hall  Market, 
where  I  had  about  the  finest  meal  I  ever  had  in  my 
life. 

After  lunch,  he  advised  me  to  go  to  see  Barker. 
As  soon  as  I  entered  the  store,  and  looked  up  at  the 
little  mezzanine  floor  on  which  he  worked,  he  looked 
up  and  called  out  cheerily,  "  Hello,  Black,  come  right 
upstairs." 

263 


264       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

I  was  surprised  that  he  should  remember  my  name, 
for  he  had  only  seen  me  once  before. 

Well,  he  told  me  just  about  the  same  as  Cantling, 
so  I  left  him  and  went  to  see  George  Field,  who  said, 
"  Well,  if  Cantling  and  Barker  both  tell  you  that,  you 
may  be  pretty  sure  it's  right." 

When  I  got  back  to  Farmdale  I  had  a  long  talk 
with  Barlow  about  automobile  accessories.  After  I 
had  told  him  how  much  money  I  wanted,  he  looked  out 
of  his  office  window,  and  leaned  back  in  his  chair  a 
few  moments,  then  said,  "  I'll  lend  you  three  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  toward  your  stock  of  those  goods.  I 
think  that  that  should  be  sufficient  to  encourage  you  to 
work  with  me  on  this  gasoline  deal." 

"  There's  one  thing  I'd  like  to  ask  Mr.  Barlow,  and 
that  is,  if  I  have  to  buy  gasoline  second-hand  from 
you,  shall  I  be  able  to  sell  it  at  the  same  price  as 
Martin's  Garage,  and  make  a  profit  on  it  ?  " 

"  Quite  as  much,  if  not  more,"  he  replied.  "  You 
remember  I  told  you  I  would  supply  it  to  you  at  half 
a  cent  above  what  it  cost  me.  Now,  by  buying 
twenty-five  thousand  gallons'  worth,  I  get  a  very  low 
price,  and  can  make  four  cents  a  gallon  profit  on  it. 
You  then  buy  what  you  need  and  make  three  and  one- 
half  cents  profit.  If  you  bought  a  small  quantity  your- 
self, you  would  not  make  more  than  two  and  one-half 
to  three  cents,  so  you  really  make  more  money,  buy- 
ing it  through  me,  than  buying  it  direct." 

"  I  can't  for  the  life  of  me,"  I  said,  "  figure  out  why 
you  are  so  anxious  about  selling  gasoline." 

"  Can't  you  conceive  of  my  wanting  to  make  some 
profit  on  gasoline?"  he  said,  smiling. 

"  Yes,"  I  drawled,  "  but  — " 


A  New  Thought  on  Retail  Selling    265 

"  See  here,  Dawson,"  he  said,  putting  his  hand  on 
my  knee,  "  don't  you  worry  about  reasons,  if  you  get 
a  square  deal.  I've  helped  you  before,  haven't  I  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  I  answered  quickly. 

"  Well,  I'm  helping  you  this  time,  and  I'm  going 
to  make  some  profit  on  it,  as  well.  There'll  be  room 
enough  for  you  and  me,  Black,  don't  worry." 

Finally  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  see  these  two 
firms  which  Alex  Cantling  mentioned  to  me,  and  try 
to  arrange  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars'  worth 
of  accessories,  with  the  account  guaranteed  by  Bar- 
low. He  said  it  might  not  be  necessary  for  him  to 
put  in  any  money,  but  that  if  he  did,  I  must  give  him 
my  note  for  whatever  he  put  in.  I  got  a  bit  scared 
when  he  told  me  that,  but  he  said  all  he  would  ask, 
as  security,  was  the  stock  of  automobile  accessories, 
so  that  I  didn't  stand  to  lose  anything. 

I  was  not  going  to  put  in  the  supply  until  the  begin- 
ning of  April.  Barlow  said  he  would  be  glad  if  I 
would  not  mention  a  word  of  it  to  any  one  until  that 
time,  so  I  agreed  not  to  have  my  automobile  acces- 
sories delivered  until  the  oil  tank  was  ready. 

Just  as  I  was  picking  up  my  hat  to  leave  Barlow's 
office,  he  called  me  back  and  said,  "  Do  you  know  why 
your  friend  Stigler  isn't  getting  on  very  well?  It's 
because  he's  always  talking  about  what  he  is  going 
to  do." 

"  Yes,  he  is  always  shooting  off  his  mouth,"  I  said, 
"  but  — " 

"  But  what  ?  "  he  asked,  smiling. 

"  Oh,  nothing,"  I  answered,  "  except  that,  when  I 
hear  he's  going  to  pull  off  some  stunt,  I  try  to  get 
there  first ! " 


266      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"Exactly;  if  you  want  to  make  a  real  success  of 
yourself,  never  tell  any  one  what  you  are  going  to  do 
until  you  really  do  it.  It's  much  better  to  have  people 
find  out  what  you  do  by  showing  results,  than  have 
them  know  beforehand  what  you  are  planning  to  do 
and  see  you  fall  down." 

"  I'll  take  the  hint,"  I  said ;  then  I  left  him. 

I  wondered  what  Barlow's  real  reason  was  in  en- 
couraging me  to  go  into  automobile  supplies.  I 
didn't  think  it  was  the  profit  he  expected  to  make  on 
gasoline.  I  was  beginning  to  have  more  respect  for 
Barlow  than  I  ever  had  in  my  life,  and,  frankly,  I 
was  beginning  to  have  less  fear  of  Stigler. 

Stigler's  five-and-ten-cent  store  had  been  very  slack 
the  last  few  weeks,  and  really  it  was  helping,  rather 
than  hindering,  me,  for,  while  he  displayed  cheap 
kitchen  goods  and  was  selling  them  just  because  they 
were  low-price,  cheap  articles,  I  was  displaying  similar 
kinds  of  goods  of  real  merit  and  quality,  and  selling 
them  at  a  good  profit.  Any  one,  looking  into  his 
window  and  mine,  could  see  no  competition,  for,  while 
the  goods  were  similar  in  kind,  they  were  so  different 
in  quality  as  to  preclude  any  possibility  of  comparison. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  our  Merchants'  Assocation, 
we  had  had  a  speaker  who  was  the  advertising 
manager  for  a  chain  drug-store  organization.  He  had 
interested  me  very  much  in  the  need  for  increasing  the 
amount  of  sales  per  customer.  He  said : 

"  I  wonder  if  you  people  here  know  how  much  each 
customer  spends  on  an  average.  For  instance,  our 
chain  of  drug  stores  must  average  thirty-five  cents  a 
customer;  that  is,  excluding  the  soda  counter.  Have 
you  ever  added  up  the  number  of  customers  and 


A  New  Thought  on  Retail  Selling    267 

divided  them  into  the  day's  cash  total,  and  found 
how  much  each  customer  averages  in  expenditure? 

"  Suppose  you  have  an  average  of  one  hundred 
customers  a  day,  and  that,  through  good  salesmanship, 
you  increase  the  sale  to  each  customer  ten  cents  only. 
That  means  that,  at  the  end  of  the  week,  by  good 
salesmanship  you  have  increased  your  sales  sixty 
dollars  without  any  increase  in  your  expenses  at  all, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  the  supplies  or  delivery. 
Now,  suppose  your  average  gross  profit  on  sales  is 
twenty-five  per  cent. ;  your  increase  of  ten  cents  per 
customer  means  that  you  make  fifteen  dollars  a  week 
of  additional  profit,  or  a  profit  of  seven  hundred  and 
eighty  dollars  a  year.  All  this  profit  is  yours,  if  you 
will  only  increase  the  sale  of  each  customer  by  ten 
cents ! 

"  That  is  what  it  means  every  time  you  increase  a 
sale:  You  increase  total  sales;  you  increase  gross 
profits;  you  lower  cost  of  doing  business;  you  lower 
percentage  of  controllable  expense;  you  lower  per- 
centage of  advertising  expense;  you  help  cut  down 
surplus  stocks;  you  increase  your  turnover;  you  im- 
prove your  service. 

"  All  these  things  happen  every  time  you  increase 
a  sale  by  as  little  as  a  dime." 

I  remembered  particularly  the  way  in  which  he  had 
said,  "  Isn't  it  worth  while,  gentlemen,  to  encourage 
your  sales  people  to  sell  every  customer  an  extra 
dime's  worth,  over  and  above  what  they  had  intended 
to  buy?" 

Seven  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  a  year  extra  profit, 
by  increasing  the  sale  to  every  customer  by  ten  cents. 
That  certainly  had  got  me  going,  and  I  intended  to 


268       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

devise  some  ways  and  means  of  increasing  the  sale  to 
each  customer. 

I  thought  this  a  good  point  for  discussion  at  our 
next  Monday's  meeting.  We  had  dropped  them 
while  Larsen  was  ill;  but,  as  the  dear  old  fellow  was 
better  again,  though  not  quite  well,  we  were  to  start 
them  again  on  the  next  Monday. 

When  Larsen  was  first  taken  sick  I  had  hired  a 
young  fellow,  named  Charlie  Martin,  to  help  out. 
Charlie  was  a  college  graduate,  with  a  father  who  was 
quite  well-to-do.  After  he  graduated  from  a  college 
of  business  administration,  he  had  spent  a  year  with  a 
big  chain  cigar  store  organization,  after  which  he 
had  been  six  months  in  a  department  store  in  Detroit. 

He  and  Fred  Barlow  had  gone  through  college  to- 
gether and  they  were  good  pals.  He  happened  to  be 
visiting  the  old  man  Barlow  when  Larsen  was  taken 
sick,  and  it  was  through  Barlow  that  he  had  come  to 
me.  Martin  told  me  that  he  would  be  glad  to  get 
some  small  store  experience,  so  I  had  hired  him  and 
he  had  been  working  like  a  Trojan  at  $8.00  a  week. 
His  father  was  a  banker  in  New  York,  and  I  had  heard 
that  he  had  been  a  little  bit  disappointed  in  Charlie 
because  he  didn't  take  to  banking;  but  Charlie  said 
that  what  he  liked  best  was  retail  merchandising,  and 
he  had  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  and  money  preparing 
himself  for  such  a  career. 

When  Larsen  came  back  I  told  Martin  I  didn't  see 
how  I  could  keep  him,  but  he  pointed  out  to  me  that 
our  sales  had  been  increasing,  and  that,  as  Larsen 
was  not  yet  well,  it  would  be  putting  too  much  of  a 
burden  on  him,  especially  as  we  would  really  be  short- 
handed.  So  I  had  kept  him  on  and  I  was  rather  glad 


A  New  Thought  on  Retail  Selling    269 

I  had,  for  his  college  training  certainly  helped  us  at 
our  Monday  night  meeting, 

It  surely  had  seemed  good  to  get  my  small  staff 
around  me  again  at  a  Monday  night  meeting.  Mater 
had  taken  over  Betty's  usual  task,  and  sent  in  coffee 
and  doughnuts,  which  quickly  went  the  way  that  all 
good  coffee  and  doughnuts  should.  It  was  really  a 
treat  to  see  Jimmie  eat  doughnuts.  I  didn't  believe 
he  did  eat  them;  he  just  inhaled  them. 

Of  course,  Jimmie  was  there  with  all  the  impor- 
tance of  a  young  boy  who  had  been  taken  into  the 
confidence  of  his  grown-ups.  Jones  and  Larsen  were 
there,  as  well  as  Martin.  What  a  contrast  there  was 
between  Martin  and  Larsen  —  Larsen  sadly  in  need 
of  a  shave,  in  rough  home-spun  clothes,  sitting  in  his 
shirt  sleeves  with  the  wristlets  of  a  red  woolen  sweater 
showing  underneath  them;  and  Martin,  who  always 
looked  like  the  last  word  off  Fifth  Avenue,  in  spot- 
less linen,  narrow  sharp  features,  with  the  air  of  a 
regular  debonair  young  man  about  town.  These  two 
people,  the  exact  opposites  of  each  other,  had  quickly 
grown  to  be  good  friends.  The  one  had  gained  his 
knowledge  through  more  than  two-score  years  of 
rather  bitter  experience;  the  other  had  gained  his 
through  five  years  of  specialized  training.  Martin, 
the  trained  man,  had  the  keen  analytical  sense  which 
only  comes  from  training.  Larsen,  through  intuition, 
backed  by  practical  experience,  blundered  more  or  less 
after  the  more  quick-thinking  Martin.  Yet  theory 
and  practice  thought  pretty  much  alike.  It  certainly 
showed  to  me  the  advantage  of  training,  for  Martin 
had  mastered  in  five  years  all  that  Larsen  had  learned 
in  forty. 


270       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

The  matter  for  discussion  at  our  meeting  had  been, 
"  How  to  increase  the  amount  of  sales  to  each  cus- 
tomer?" Frankly,  it  was  Martin  who  solved  our 
problem  for  us,  and  six  ways  were  developed  whereby 
we  could  increase  the  sales  of  each  customer. 

The  first  was  by  applying  the  law  of  association. 
It  was  a  simple  thing  to  do,  and  yet  it  astonished  me 
to  find  that,  while  we  all  knew  about  it,  we  had  not 
been  applying  that  law.  For  instance,  only  that 
morning  Mrs.  Wetherall  had  come  in  for  a  clothes 
line.  Jones  had  got  the  line  for  her  and  had  said, 
"  Nothing  else?  "  and  she  had  said,  "  No,  thank  you," 
and  walked  out. 

Martin  asked  Jones  if  he  would  allow  him  to  make 
a  suggestion  relative  to  that  sale.  Jones  was  a  pretty 
good  scout,  and  he  said  he  didn't  mind. 

"  I  don't  think,"  said  Martin,  "  we  ever  ought  to 
say  '  nothing  else  '  ?  Because  the  natural  thing  for  the 
customer  to  say  is  '  no.' ' 

"  By  Jove,  you're  right.  I  should  have  said,  '  Any- 
thing else,'  shouldn't  I  ?  " 

"  That  I  think  would  be  better,"  continued  Martin, 
"  but  even  that  puts  up  to  the  customer  the  burden  of 
thinking  if  there  is  anything  else  wanted.  It  would 
be  better  to  suggest  some  articles.  That  is,  of  course, 
applying  the  law  of  association." 

"  I  see,"  said  Jones  thoughtfully,  "  I  should  have 
suggested  she  buy  clothes  pins  before  I  let  her  go." 

"  Yes,  and  other  things." 

"  Well,"  said  Jones,  "  I  don't  see  anything  else  I 
could  have  suggested  to  her,  except  that  electrical 
washing  machine  we  have  got  in,  but  it's  sixty-five 
dollars,  and  people  won't  pay  that  price  for  it." 


A  New  Thought  on  Retail  Selling     271 

Larsen  snapped  him  up  at  that  very  quickly,  say- 
ing, "  Do  you  think,  Jones,  that  you  know  more  about 
washing  machines  than  the  people  do  who  make  them  ? 
Do  you  think  those  people  would  be  such  fools  as 
to  set  a  price  that  people  wouldn't  pay  for  them? 
We've  only  had  it  in  a  couple  of  weeks.  No  wonder 
we  can't  sell  it,  if  we  don't  think  we  can.  Wetherall's 
quite  a  well-to-do  young  fellow,  and  he  could  afford 
to  buy  that  for  his  wife  if  she  wanted  it,  especially  as 
she  can  buy  it  on  the  easy  payment  plan." 

I  had  bought  this  washing  machine  on  the  under- 
standing that  I  could  sell  it  at  the  rate  of  ten  dollars 
down  and  five  dollars  a  month,  and  pay  them  at  the 
same  rate  for  it. 

Then  Jones  said,  "  Huh,  I  suppose  I  didn't  do  a 
blame  thing  right  in  that  sale.  Well,  I  guess  you  can't 
kick  at  my  sending  the  parcel  home  for  her.  That 
little  booklet  we  got  out  said  we  were  '  long '  on  serv- 
ice." 

"  I  guess  you're  all  right  there,"  I  said,  smiling. 
"  What  do  you  say,  Martin?" 

"  Why,  yes,  of  course,"  responded  Martin.  "  It  is 
fine  to  give  service."  Then,  as  if  it  were  an  after- 
thought, he  added,  "  I  wonder  if  it  would  have  made 
any  difference  if  instead  of  saying  '  Shall  we  send  it?  ' 
you  had  said,  'Will  you  take  it  with  you?'  Most 
people  act  on  the  suggestion  that  is  given.  That  is 
why,  when  we  suggest  to  people  to  buy  goods  that 
are  associated  with  what  they  ask  for,  we  put  the 
thought  of  buying  those  associated  articles  into  their 
minds." 

"  And,"  broke  in  Jimmie  impetuously,  "  they  fall  for 
it.  I  got  yer !  " 


272       Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

We  all  had  a  good  laugh,  and  then  continued  the 
discussion  of  the  law  of  association.  We  decided 
that,  whenever  a  man  came  in  for  a  hammer,  we  would 
always  suggest  nails,  and  vice  versa.  To  every  one 
who  bought  a  razor  we  would  suggest  shaving  appli- 
ances. If  a  customer  came  in  for  some  paint,  we 
would  suggest  brushes,  and  ask  if  he  was  going  to 
paint  the  barn,  and,  if  so,  whether  he  wanted  some 
new  door  hangers,  and  such  like. 

I  told  Martin  that  he  had  better  make  a  list  on 
cards  of  the  articles  which  can  be  associated  with  each 
other,  and  then  we  could  tack  up  the  cards  where  we 
could  see  them  and  quickly  suggest  the  associated 
articles  to  the  customer. 

"  I  tell  yer  what,"  said  Jimmie,  "  let's  have  a  lot  of 
cards  printed,  and  then,  if  a  carpenter  comes  in,  shove 
out  a  card  at  him  and  say,  '  Look  through  this  and  see 
what  else  you  want '  ?  " 

That  didn't  strike  me  as  being  such  a  bad  sugges- 
tion after  all. 

The  second  plan  for  increasing  sales  was  to  suggest 
novelties,  or  new  articles  in  stock,  to  customers. 

"  Look  what  we  did  with  that  Cincinnati  pencil 
sharpener,"  said  Larsen.  "  Do  you  remember  how 
we  mentioned  that  to  every  one  who  came  in,  and  we 
sold  a  bunch  of  'em." 

"  And  they're  still  selling,  for  I  sold  three  last 
week,"  said  Martin. 

"  Gosh,"  said  Jimmie,  "  everybody  must  be  giving 
'em  to  everybody  else  for  presents." 

"  I  don't  think,"  said  Martin,  "  we  have  anything 
like  exhausted  the  sales  possibilities  of  those  pencil 
sharpeners,  and  I  am  going  to  suggest  that  we  make 


A  New  Thought  on  Retail  Selling    273 

that  our  novelty  suggestion  for  the  next  week.  What 
do  you  say,  Mr.  Black?  " 

1  shook  my  head  dubiously.  "  We  seem  to  have 
pushed  those  so  much,"  I  said,  "  I  should  think  there 
would  hardly  be  a  novelty  here  now." 

"There  has  not  been  one  on  display  for  a  couple 
of  months,"  he  answered,  "  and  we  have  about  half  a 
dozen  in  stock.  Let's  put  those  around  the  store  in 
different  parts  and  then  put  a  little  card  over  each  one 
saying,  '  Sharpen  your  pencil.'  I  will  wager  that 
every  man  who  comes  into  the  store  will  sharpen  his 
pencil,  and  if  he  does — " 

"And  if  he  does,"  the  irrepressible  Jimmie  broke 
in,  "  good-by  pencil  sharpener,  you're  going  to  a  new 
home!" 

A  thought  had  occurred  to  me  which  developed  into 
the  third  method  of  increasing  sales.  I  had  remem- 
bered that,  when  Betty  and  I  were  in  New  York,  she 
had  lost  her  handkerchief,  and  we  went  into  a  store 
to  get  one.  When  Betty  said  she  wanted  one  handker- 
chief, the  girl  brought  out  one  and  said,  "  Ten  cents. 
Anything  else?"  I  had  thought  at  the  time  that  she 
could  have  sold  Betty  half  a  dozen  just  as  well  as  one, 
and,  furthermore,  if  she  had  brought  out  one  at 
twenty-five  cents  Betty  would  have  bought  it  just  as 
readily. 

Then  I  remembered  how  often  we  did  the  same 
thing  with  our  customers,  to  whom,  when  they  came 
for  a  pocket-knife,  for  instance,  we  offered  a  twenty- 
five  cent  one  when  we  might  have  sold  a  fifty-cent 
or  a  dollar  one  just  as  easily.  I  said  to  myself,  "  A 
number  of  our  customers  will  go  into  a  restaurant  and 
spend  two  dollars  for  a  meal  and  then  they  will  come 


274      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

into  our  store  and  we  will  insult  them  by  saying,  *  Do 
you  want  the  five-cent  size  or  the  ten-cent  size  ? '  In 
other  words,  we  treat  them  like  pikers." 

So  with  this  thought  in  mind,  I  suggested  that  an- 
other way  to  increase  the  amount  of  each  sale  is  to 
suggest  higher-priced  goods  than  the  customer  has  in 
mind.  Yet  another  plan  would  be  to  suggest  larger 
size  packages.  For  instance,  we  sold  both  ten-  and 
twenty-five-cent  packages  of  some  articles.  Once  a 
customer  had  come  in  and  asked  for  a  stick  of  shav- 
ing soap  and  Jones  had  brought  down  the  ten-cent 
size  and  the  customer  put  the  ten  cents  down  and 
walked  away  with  the  soap.  He  might  just  as  easily 
have  been  sold  the  twenty-five-cent  size. 

So  we  decided  that,  when  a  customer  asked  for 
an  article,  if  there  was  a  larger  size  package,  or  a 
better  quality,  we  would  always  show  the  largest  or 
the  best,  taking  care,  however,  in  every  case  to  show 
reasons  why  the  better  quality  or  larger  package  was 
best  for  the  customer  to  buy. 

From  all  this  we  finally  developed  three  rules. 
One  was  to  offer  higher-priced  articles,  another  to 
offer  a  larger  size  package,  and  another  to  offer  a 
larger  quantity. 

Jimmie  asked  irreverently,  "  What's  the  diff  between 
them  last  two?" 

"  Well,  for  instance,  we  sell  scouring  soaps  for 
enamelware,  and,  as  we  have  two  sizes,  we  always 
want  now  to  sell  the  larger  package.  If,  however,  a 
customer  comes  in  for,  say,  seven  pounds  of  nails, 
we  want  him  to  take  twenty-eight  pounds,  or  a  keg, 
if  we  can." 

The  last  rule  was  one  suggested  by  Martin,  and  it 


A  New  Thought  on  Retail  Selling     275 

was  this:  Always  watch  the  customer's  eye,  and  try 
to  sell  any  article  in  which  he  appears  to  be  interested. 

We  decided  that  we  must  not  ask  the  customers  if 
they  were  interested  in  the  articles  they  are  looking 
at,  nor  must  we  bring  the  articles  to  them,  but  we  must 
casually  say,  "  That's  quite  an  interesting  so-and-so, 
and  is  proving  a  mighty  useful  little  thing,"  or  some 
such  remark  as  that.  In  other  words,  just  make  a 
casual  comment  on  it,  and  then,  as  Martin  said,  "If 
they  respond  with  a  remark  expressing  interest,  the 
sale  is  half  made." 

I  really  felt  that  Martin  had,  in  his  quiet  way, 
dominated  the  whole  of  this  meeting,  but  he  had  done 
it  so  neatly,  and  without  in  any  way  trying  to  over- 
step my  authority,  that  I  really  felt  that  he  had  been 
a  lot  of  help  to  us  without  making  his  show  of  knowl- 
edge obnoxious.  I  really  believed  Martin  knew  more 
about  retail  merchandising  than  alLof  us  put  together. 
What  he  had  done  was  to  suggest  that  it  might  be  a 
good  idea  to  do  such  and  such  a  thing,  instead  of 
arrogantly  thrusting  his  knowledge  on  us  by  saying 
we  ought  to  do  so.  He  was  a  clever  man,  Martin, 
and  Barlow's  son  was  lucky  to  have  a  fellow  like  him 
for  a  friend.  I  wished  I  could  tie  him  up  to  my  store 
somehow,  but,  of  course  that  would  be  impossible  in 
a  little  store  like  mine,  for  there  were  no  prospects 
for  a  young  fellow  like  him.  .  .  . 

The  day  after  our  meeting  I  saw  the  cleverest 
example  of  selling  that  I  had  ever  seen.  Probably  it 
was  old,  but  it  was  surely  new  to  me,  and  the  man 
got  a  small  order  from  me,  too. 

About  10:30  in  the  morning,  a  well-dressed,  jolly- 
looking  man  came  into  the  store.  I  was  busy  serving 


276       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

at  the  time.  In  fact,  we  all  were  busy,  but  Larsen 
was  disengaged  first  and  so  he  asked  what  he  could  do 
for  him. 

"How  do  you  do?"  said  the  stranger,  smiling. 
"  I've  got  a  message  to  tell  Mr.  Black,"  and  he  nodded 
toward  me. 

"  He'll  be  free  in  a  few  minutes,"  said  Larsen. 

"  Thank  you,"  replied  the  salesman.  Then,  notic- 
ing a  display  of  electrical  goods  which  we  had  on  one 
of  our  center  tables,  he  said,  "  The  man  who  dressed 
that  table  knows  something  about  display,  doesn't 
he?" 

"  I  did  it,"  said  Larsen. 

"  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon ;  I  thought  that  one  of 
your  assistants  had  done  it." 

I  heard  this  even  while  serving  my  customer  and 
I  don't  think  I  had  ever  seen  Larsen  act  so  pleased. 
The  old  chap  almost  purred  with  delight.  The  sales- 
man didn't  say  any  more  to  Larsen,  however,  but 
turned  around  and  inspected  the  electrical  goods. 

When  I  was  disengaged  he  walked  over  to  me. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Black ;  I  have  a  message  for 
you;  but,  before  I  deliver  it,  I  wonder  if  you  have 
such  a  thing  as  a  bit  of  scrap  zinc  or  tin  around  the 
place?" 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  and  told  Jimmie  to  bring  a  piece. 

The  jolly-looking  man  then  took  a  pocket-knife 
from  his  pocket,  opened  it  and  cut  two  or  three  slivers 
off  the  zinc.  Passing  the  knife  over  to  me,  he  said: 
"  Did  you  ever  see  a  pocket-knife  before  that  could 
do  that  without  denting?" 

"  No.  But  I  never  heard  before  of  any  one  cutting 
zinc  with  a  pocket-knife." 


"  SNIPPED  THREE   SHORT   PIECES   OF   WIRE   FROM   THE   COIL 


A  New  Thought  on  Retail  Selling    277 

"Of  course  they're  not  meant  for  that  purpose ;  but 
a  pocket-knife  that  can  do  that  must  have  quality  in 
it." 

"  Yes,  indeed."  I  looked  at  the  knife  curiously  to 
see  if  the  edge  was  dented  at  all,  but  it  wasn't. 

"  That  is  the  kind  of  pocket-knife  we  sell,"  he  con- 
tinued. "  Isn't  that  the  kind  of  pocket-knife  that  will 
please  your  trade?  Just  a  moment,"  putting  up  his 
hand,  "  there's  a  bit  of  copper  wire  on  your  counter 
yonder.  May  I  borrow  it  a  moment?  " 

I  smiled  and  fetched  it  to  him. 

This  time  he  brought  out  a  pair  of  shears  and 
snipped  three  short  pieces  of  wire  from  the  coil,  passed 
the  scissors  over  to  me  and  said,  smiling  in  the  most 
friendly  manner,  "  Same  story  on  the  scissors,  Mr. 
Black." 

My  hand  instinctively  stretched  out  for  those 
scissors  and  I  examined  the  cutting  edges  carefully. 

"  Look  at  this,  Larsen,"  I  called  out  without  think- 
ing. ..."  Mr.  Larsen  looks  after  our  cutlery  —  tell 
him  about  it." 

I  held  out  the  scissors  to  the  stranger,  but  he  didn't 
take  them. 

"  Try  it  for  yourself,"  he  said  to  Larsen. 

Larsen  did  try  it. 

"  Any  good  shears  '11  do  that,"  said  Larsen. 

"  Exactly,"  said  the  salesman,  laughing ;  "  which 
shows  these  must  be  good  shears.  Isn't  that  so?  " 

"  How  much  ?  "  asked  Larsen. 

Well,  I  need  not  go  any  further.  We  had  always 
bought  most  of  our  cutlery  from  a  jobber,  feeling  that 
it  was  best  for  us  under  the  circumstances.  This  sales- 


278       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

man  got  us  so  interested  in  his  cutlery,  however,  that, 
really  before  we  knew  it,  he  had  our  order. 

Martin  had  been  unpacking  some  goods  which  had 
just  come  in  and  didn't  get  behind  the  counter  until 
afternoon.  I  told  him  about  the  selling  stunt  that  we 
had  seen.  "  That's  fine !  "  he  said.  "  Let  us  adopt 
it,"  and  thereupon  we  decided  that  on  pocket-knives  of 
one  dollar  and  over,  and  shears  of  seventy-five  cents 
and  over,  we  should  demonstrate  their  superiority  in 
the  same  way  that  the  salesman  had  done. 

"  Why  not  on  the  cheaper  ones?  "  I  asked. 

"  Do  you  think,"  replied  Martin  with  a  dry  smile, 
"  that  people  would  pay  extra  for  the  higher  priced 
knives  or  shears  if  we  demonstrated  to  them  that  the 
lower  priced  ones  would  stand  the  same  test  of 
quality?  There  would  be  no  logical  reason  for  them 
to  pay  the  extra  price,  would  there  ?  " 

A  few  days  after  our  meeting  Jimmie  complained 
that  the  whole  town  was  using  our  store  as  a  pencil 
sharpening  emporium.  "  Everybody  is  sharpening 
their  pencils  all  day  long,  since  we  put  up  that  notice 
about  the  Cincinnati  pencil  sharpener,"  he  said. 

"How  many  have  we  sold?"  I  said,  turning  to 
Jones.  As  a  matter  of  fact  I  had  forgotten  our  plan. 

"  There's  only  one  left,"  he  answered. 

"  Great  Scott !  Order  another  dozen  right  away !  " 
I  said  excitedly. 

"  Martin  ordered  them  on  Tuesday." 

Martin  again.     He  thinks. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

BETTY   COMES   HOME 

WHEN  I  got  down  to  breakfast  one  morning  the 
Mater  was  there  with  a  letter  in  her  hand  which  had 
a  Florida  post-mark  on  it.  Her  face  was  very  grave. 

"  Hullo,  Mater,"  I  said ;  then,  noticing  the  envelope, 
"Nothing  wrong,  I  hope?" 

"  Why,  no ;  but  I've  got  a  little  disappointment  for 
you." 

"Betty  isn't  sick  again?"  I  asked  anxiously. 

"  Now,  don't  worry,  my  dear,"  she  said ;  "  but  I 
want  you  to  let  me  tell  you  " —  here  she  hesitated  and 
looked  at  me  for  a  moment,  then  shook  her  head  sor- 
rowfully and  under  her  breath  said,  "  Poor  boy!  " 

"  Good  gracious,  Mother,  tell  me  quickly  what  it 
is!" 

"  There,  there,  sit  down." 

I  sat  down.  My  throat  felt  parched.  Mother's  re- 
marks made  me  think  all  kinds  of  dreadful  things 
had  happened  to  my  Betty.  She  stood  behind  my 
chair  and  put  her  arms  on  my  shoulders  and  said : 
"  Well,  my  poor  boy,  your  time  of  ease  will  soon  be 
over.  Betty  will  be  home  next  Wednesday."  I  felt 
as  if  a  ton  of  bricks  had  been  taken  off  my  chest,  and 
at  once  forgave  Mother  for  her  joke. 

I  had  just  bought  three  electric  vacuum  cleaners, 
and  Larsen  thought  I  was  crazy. 

279 


280       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Retail  at  thirty-five  dollars ! "  he  said. 

"  Cost  me  twenty-two,"   I   retaliated. 

"H'm!" 

"  Besides,"  I  continued,  "  remember  that  we  are  go- 
ing to  dominate  the  electrical  supply  field." 

"  And  toilet  articles  —  don't  forget  them,"  Larsen 
laughed. 

That  was  his  hobby ;  and  it  was  a  hobby  that  meant 
dollars  and  cents  to  me,  for  that  business  was  grow- 
ing steadily  all  the  time. 

We  had  even  added  toilet  soap,  because  we  had 
been  asked  for  it  several  times.  People  came  in  to 
leave  their  safety  razors  to  be  sharpened  and  then 
bought  a  stick  of  shaving  soap,  and  also  asked  if  we 
had  any  toilet  soap.  So,  right  or  wrong,  we  had  gone 
into  it.  Martin  had  the  right  idea.  "If  you  can 
make  profit  out  of  it  it's  all  right." 

Coming  back  to  our  vacuum  cleaners,  I  had  felt 
that  we  ought  to  have  everything  electrical,  just  so 
that  we  could  dominate  the  field.  I  might  have 
been  wrong  in  my  reasoning,  but  that  was  how  it 
struck  me.  I  had  asked  Martin  if  he  didn't  agree 
with  me. 

"  I  most  surely  do,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said.  "  I  think 
you  have  the  right  idea  on  that,  and  I  think  you  will 
sell  some  vacuum  cleaners."  He  pursed  his  lips,  a 
habit  he  had  when  thinking,  then  added,  "  And,  even 
if  you  don't  sell  them,  you  can  make  a  good  profit  out 
of  them." 

Larsen  shot  him  a  questioning  look. 

"  In  fact,"  continued  Martin,  "  when  you  think  it 
over,  you  might  decide  not  to  bother  to  sell  them  at 
all,  but  just  rent  them  during  the  spring  cleaning  time, 


Betty  Comes  Home  281 

which  is  coming  on  very  soon.  You  ought  to  be  able 
to  rent  them  for  a  dollar  a  day,  without  any  trouble. 
I  think  that  in  sixty  days  you  can  rent  those  machines 
so  that  they  wouldn't  cost  you  anything." 

That  was  on  Monday,  and  in  the  evening  we  had 
quite  an  interesting  discussion  at  our  "  directors'  " 
meeting. 

Jones  suggested  that  we  could  send  a  man  to  work 
the  vacuum  cleaners,  and  then,  while  he  was  in  the 
house  he  could  sell  the  woman  other  things. 

"  That  certainly  is  a  very  interesting  suggestion," 
said  Martin,  "  and  possibly  could  be  worked.  But 
there's  one  difficulty.  All  the  ads.  of  the  vacuum 
cleaner  show  women  and  children  operating  the 
machine.  If  we  suggested  that  a  man  ought  to  work 
it,  they  might  wonder  what  is  wrong  with  the  machine 
—  or  with  us.  Besides,  Mr.  Black,  don't  you  think 
it  would  take  us  too  much  from  our  regular  work,  so 
that,  either  there  or  here,  we  would  have  to  have  extra 
help?" 

After  I  thought  the  matter  was  dropped,  Martin 
said,  "  Do  you  think  that  one  dollar  is  sufficient  to 
charge  for  a  day's  use  of  that  machine?  Don't  you 
think  we  can  get  two  dollars  just  as  easily?  Also  re- 
member that,  if  the  machine  has  been  out  one  day, 
from  our  point  of  view  it  becomes  unsalable  as  a 
new  machine." 

"  Do  you  think  they  will  stand  for  that  much  ?  " 
asked  Jones. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  I  chimed  in,  "  I'm  sure  they  will.  It  is 
going  to  save  the  women  two  or  three  days'  work; 
and,  as  you  know,  many  people  hire  a  man  or  woman 
to  come  for  a  day  to  beat  the  rugs,  and  they  can't  get  , 


282       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

anybody  under  two  dollars  a  day,  and  it  usually  takes 
them  a  day  to  do  the  job." 

So  we  decided  to  charge  two  dollars  a  day  for  the 
rent  of  the  vacuum  cleaners. 

Charlie  Martin  suggested  that  we  ought  to  get  up 
an  ad.  for  the  sweeper  service.  I  thought  that  Fel- 
lows ought  to  do  it,  but  Charlie  was  so  insistent  that 
I  told  him  to  go  ahead  with  it. 

Jimmy  gave  us  an  idea  which  I  thought  was  pretty 
good.  "  Say,  Boss/'  he  said,  "  couldn't  we  sell  base- 
ball goods?" 

"  Barlow  has  always  handled  those,"  I  said,  "  and  - 
and  —  "I  trailed  off  to  nothing,  because  I  realized 
that,  because  Barlow  handled  these,  it  was  no  reason 
why  I  should  not,  and,  if  I  stopped  handling  every- 
thing he  did,  I  would  have  very  few  goods  in  the  store. 
I  had  had  to  give  up  the  idea  of  farm  implements,  be- 
cause of  the  big  hold  he  had  on  that  business,  and  the 
amount  of  money  it  required  to  carry  the  necessary 
stock. 

"  I'm  captain  of  the  Little  Tigers,"  broke  in  Jimmie, 
"and  if  yer  put  in  baseball  goods,  why  I  can  get  all 
our  gang  to  buy  from  here  —  and,  say,  I  know  a  couple 
o'  kids  that  would  like  to  go  and  see  the  captains  of 
the  other  kids'  teams  around  here  —  especially  if  you 
were  to  give  a  little  rake  off." 

We  all  laughed  —  except  Larsen.  "  That's  one  of 
the  best  suggestions  Jimmie  ever  give  us,"  he  said, 
"  Let  his  pals  sell  for  a  commission.  They  get  busi- 
ness we  never  get." 

Here  Martin  broke  in,  "  I  know  a  house  in  Boston 
that  would  supply  us  with  all  the  catalogs  we  wanted, 
and  we  could  sell  from  catalog  if  necessary,  and  they 


Betty  Comes  Home  283 

would  give  us  a  substantial  discount  for  any  orders  we 
sent  them." 

"  Write  to  them,  Charlie,"  I  said,  "  and  see  what 
they'll  do." 

What  a  tremendous  lot  of  different  lines  there  are 
which  a  retail  store  can  handle  —  even  if  only  for  a 
brief  season  each  year  —  and  make  some  profit  out  of 
them!  But  you  sure  do  have  to  keep  on  the  jump  to 
think  of  them  all.  I  know  my  store  would  never  have 
been  handling  the  number  of  lines  that  we  had  then,  if 
it  hadn't  been  for  the  Monday  meetings.  These  meet- 
ings seemed  to  tone  up  all  of  us,  and,  once  we  had  gone 
on  record  to  do  something,  we  seemed  to  strive  hard 
to  live  up  to  it,  so  that  we  wouldn't  let  the  other  fel- 
lows have  the  laugh  on  us,  which  they  certainly  would 
if  we  had  fallen  down.  It  was  at  that  meeting  that 
I  suggested  a  motto.  It  was  this : 

"  Eternal  humping  is  the  price  of  Success." 

I  asked  Charlie  Martin  what  he  thought  of  it.  He 
said,  "  It's  fine,  and  if  you  used  the  word  vigilance 
instead  of  humping  —  why  you  would  be  only  about 
twenty-five  hundred  years  behind  the  fellow  who  or- 
iginated it ! " 

The  day  Betty  was  to  return  I  was  at  the  station  at 
3:30,  although  her  train  wasn't  due  'till  3:55  —  and 
then  the  train  was  fifteen  minutes  late !  How  I  fumed 
and  fretted  at  the  inefficiency  of  our  railroad  service, 
but  I  forgot  all  that  when  the  train  finally  puffed  into 
the  station,  and  Betty  tripped  out  of  the  car,  right  into 
my  arms.  I  can't  express  the  happiness  I  experienced 

—  all  the  hundred  and  one  things  we  had  to  talk  over 

—  all  the  foolish  little  stunts  we  did,  just  like  a  couple 


284       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

of  kids  —  but  both  of  us  supremely  happy !  I  extend 
my  heartfelt  commiseration  to  those  poor  benighted 
wights  who  don't  possess  a  wife. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

WOOLTON    COMES   TO   TOWN 

THE  next  morning,  while  I  was  in  the  middle  of 
breakfast,  the  telephone  rang.  I  jumped  up  to  an- 
swer it  and  recognized  Barlow's  voice. 

"  That  you,  Black?  "  he  said. 

"  Yes,"  I  said.  "  Betty's  home :  she  came  yester- 
day!" 

"  Glad  to  hear  it,"  he  replied.  "  I  wish  you  would 
drop  in  at  the  store  this  morning,  if  you  can;  will 
you?" 

"  Sure,"  I  answered,  but  felt  somewhat  disap- 
pointed. He  seemed  to  treat  Betty's  return  as  a  mere 
nothing! 

When  I  joined  Betty  at  the  table  I  told  her  about  my 
automobile  arrangement  with  him.  She  seemed  very 
pleased  at  that.  Betty  thought  a  lot  of  Barlow,  and 
I  thought  more  of  him  than  I  used  to.  I  had  consid- 
ered him  as  an  old  duffer;  but  I  had  learned  that  he 
was  a  quiet,  thoughtful,  progressive  business  man. 

As  soon  as  I  got  into  his  store  he  beckoned  me  to 
the  rear. 

"  Say,  Black,  you've  got  some  vacuum  cleaners,"  he 
said ;  "  I'm  not  handling  those  things,  and  I  wish  you'd 
send  one  up  to  the  wife.  She's  always  said  she  wanted 
one.  I'll  pay  you  now  —  how  much  ?  " 

I  told  him  the  cost  price  and  suggested  that  he  pay 

285 


286       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

me  ten  per  cent,  over  that,  which  he  said  was  per- 
fectly agreeable. 

Then  he  said,  "  I  couldn't  help  laughing  the  other 
day.  Martin  seemed  to  be  quite  worried." 

"  Worried  ?  What  about  ?  He  was  all  right  last 
night." 

"  I  don't  mean  Charlie ;  I  mean  Bill  Martin,  who 
runs  the  garage.  It  seems  somebody  said  that  the 
Martin  who  is  with  you  is  contemplating  getting  into 
the  garage  business,  and  Billy  Martin  thinks  that  the 
confusion  of  names  will  take  a  lot  of  business  away 
from  him." 

"  Who  on  earth  said  a  thing  like  that?  "  I  laughed. 

"  Oh,  you  know  how  these  rumors  get  started. 
They  start  from  nowhere  and  they  carry  on  indefi- 
nitely. The  best  thing,  of  course,  is  to  ignore  any- 
thing like  that." 

"  Funny  that  the  name  should  be  just  the  same,  isn't 
it  ?  Especially  when  we  —  " 

He  put  a  warning  finger  to  his  lips  and  then  I  re- 
membered my  promise  not  to  mention  to  any  one  our 
coming  deal  in  automobile  accessories  and  gasoline. 

"  I  told  Betty,"  I  said. 

"  That's  all  right ;  Betty  has  an  excellent  f  orget- 
tery." 

Just  as  I  was  leaving  he  said,  "  I  understand  that 
your  friend  Stigler  is  contemplating  getting  out  of  his 
five-and-ten-cent  business." 

I  grinned.     "  Made  it  too  hot  for  him,  have  I  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  he  said ;  "  but  I  under- 
stand that  Woolton's  five-and-ten-cent  store  people  are 
buying  the  place,  and  adding  it  to  their  chain.  Well, 
good-by,"  and  he  turned  abruptly  and  left  me. 


Woolton  Comes  to  Town  287 

When  I  walked  back  to  the  store  I  felt  mighty 
uncomfortable  —  Woolton,  the  biggest  five-and-ten- 
cent  chain  in  the  country,  next  door  to  me!  I  hadn't 
minded  somehow,  while  it  was  Stigler,  because  he 
hadn't  sufficient  money  to  carry  a  big  variety  of  stock 
as  they  did.  Neither  did  he  know  anything  about 
organization,  or  marketing  methods,  as  the  Woolton 
people  did. 

As  I  neared  my  store  I  happened  to  notice  Stigler 
and  a  short,  thick-set  man  coming  out  of  his  five-and- 
ten-cent  store.  As  they  passed  me  Stigler  said, 
"  Howdy,  Black,"  with  an  attempt  at  jovialty.  Stig- 
ler had  been  looking  much  older  lately.  He  wore  a 
worried  look. 

When  I  passed  his  store  I  noticed  two  dapper  young 
men  busily  writing.  I  made  the  guess  that  they  were 
stock  taking. 

I  told  Martin  and  Larsen  about  it.  Larsen  pooh- 
poohed  the  idea  of  being  afraid  of  the  competition. 
Martin  felt  differently,  however. 

I  expected  the  Woolton  people  would  take  over  the 
store  on  the  first  of  the  month,  and  if  so  they  would  ad- 
vertise big  bargains  the  day  before.  They  were  sure 
to  have  crowds  of  people  visiting  them  the  first  two  or 
three  days  the  store  was  opened,  because  they  always 
offered  as  leaders  some  tremendous  values.  I  men- 
tioned this  to  Martin. 

"  The  thing  we've  got  to  do,  Mr.  Black,  if  I  may  say 
so,"  he  said,  "  is  to  see  if  we  can't  get  the  jump  on 
them  in  some  way,  and  also  trim  our  windows  so  as  to 
profit  by  any  one  visiting  their  store." 

Jones,  who  was  inclined,  like  Larsen,  to  deprecate 
the  idea  of  fearing  them,  said,  "  I  guess  we  needn't 


288       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

worry  about  them.  We're  educating  the  people  to  buy 
something  better  than  five-and-ten-cent  goods.  Just 
keep  up  the  educating  stunt,  Boss." 

"  You  will  find,"  said  Martin,  "  that  the  Woolton 
people  will  make  their  store  as  bright  as  possible,  and 
I  am  afraid  that  ours  will  look  a  little  dull  in  com- 
parison." 

When  Stigler  had  had  the  store  fitted  up  he  had  had 
some  very  powerful  lights  put  in,  but  he  had  never  used 
them  much.  My  store  was  not  any  too  bright,  al- 
though, of  course,  like  him,  I  used  electricity. 

"  I  tell  you  what  we'll  do,"  I  said.  "  We'll  have 
an  electrical  display  in  both  windows  and,  for  the  first 
week,  we'll  try  to  get  a  bigger  blaze  of  light  in  our 
windows  than  they  will  have.  We'll  display  the  best 
quality  goods  that  we  can,  so  as  to  avoid  any  attempt 
at  competition  with  them,  but  we'll  make  our  store  so 
bright  that  every  one  going  to  their  store  for  bargains 
will  be  impressed  with  our  up-to-dateness." 

That  is  what  we  decided  to  do. 

Martin  had  given  me  his  handbill  advertising  the 
vacuum  cleaners.  On  the  next  page  is  a  copy  of  it. 

I  had  had  Roger  Burns  around  for  dinner  the  previ- 
ous Sunday.  He  used  to  go  to  school  with  Betty  and 
me,  so  of  course  when  I  told  Betty  that  the  New 
England  Hardware  Company,  for  which  Roger  was 
working,  had  made  him  manager  of  its  chain  store  in 
Farmdale,  the  first  thing  she  said  was  that  we  must 
ask  him  for  dinner. 

While  Betty  and  the  Mater  were  clearing  away  the 
dinner  things,  I  asked  Roger  how  business  was  coming 
along. 


Woolton  Comes  to  Town  289 


LET  INVISIBLE  HANDS  DO  YOUR  HEAVY 
CLEANING 

Instead  of  hiring  help  to  clean  your  carpets,  let  one 
of  our  PEERLESS  ELECTRICAL  VACUUM  SWEEP- 
ERS do  it  for  you. 

PEERLESS  ELECTRICAL  VACUUM  SWEEPERS 
are  quiet,  efficient,  and  thorough.  You  don't  have  to  find 
meals  for  them  and  they  never  answer  back. 

If  you  have  electricity  in  your  home  hire  a  PEERLESS 
ELECTRICAL  VACUUM  SWEEPER  to  clean  your 
rugs. 

$2.00  a  day  —  delivered  and  collected  free. 

A  child  can  operate  them,  but  they  do  the  work  of  a 
giant. 

A  special  demonstration  all  next  week  at 

DAWSON  BLACK'S  HARDWARE  STORE 
32  Hill  St. 

"If  it's  electrical  you  can  get  it   from   us." 


"  Well,"  he  said,  "  we  knew  pretty  well  what  we 
would  do  before  we  came." 

"  How  could  you  tell  ?  "  I  asked,  laughing. 

"  We  knew  how  much  money  we  were  to  invest  in 
Farmdale.  We  knew  how  often  we  ought  to  turn 
over  our  stock  every  year.  We  also  knew  what  our 
expenses  would  be,  and  what  our  profits  would  be." 

I  couldn't  help  smiling  as  I  said,  "  The  only  thing 
you  didn't  know  was  whether  the  people  would  buy  the 
goods." 

"  That's  where  you're  wrong,"  said  Roger.  "  We 
knew  what  the  people  would  buy,  because  we  analyzed 


290       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

the  market  so  thoroughly.  We  knew  just  what  kind 
of  goods  each  class  of  people  bought;  and  how  often 
they  bought  certain  kinds  of  goods.  And  with  our 
experience  in  marketing  we  knew  how  to  get  them 
into  our  store." 

After  Roger  had  left  I  thought  that  over  a  lot,  and 
believed  there  was  some  truth  in  what  he  had  said. 

"  Of  course,"  I  said,  "  it  is  much  easier  for  you 
people  to  make  money  than  it  is  for  me,  because  you 
buy  much  cheaper  than  I  can,  and  your  expenses  are 
so  much  less.  You  could  afford  to  sell  cheaper  than 
I  do,  and  still  make  a  handsome  profit." 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,"  said  Roger,  "  you  are  wrong ; 
for,  while  the  actual  operating  expense  of  this  store 
would  be  a  smaller  percentage  than  your  actual  operat- 
ing expense,  we  have  a  heavy  supervision  cost.  It  is  a 
fallacy  to  believe  that  the  larger  store  can  operate  for 
less  expense.  It  cannot.  The  bigger  business  you 
have,  the  more  money  you  have  to  pay  the  executives 
to  control  that  business,  and  there  is  such  a  scramble 
for  really  big  men  that  salaries  of  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  a  year  are  not 
unusual.  Our  general  manager  makes  eighteen  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year !  " 

"  Think  of  making  eighteen  thousand  dollars  a 
year!  Three  hundred  and  sixty  a  week!  Sixty  a 
day!  Working  six  hours  a  day!  Ten  dollars  an 
hour!  And  here  I  pike  along  on  twenty-five  dollars 
a  week  and  work  my  head  off  ten  hours  a  day.  Then 
'you  mean  to  say  that  it  really  costs  you  more  to  do 
business  than  it  does  me?" 

"  It  surely  does,"  he  said,  "  but,  while  we  get  a 
smaller  net  profit  on  each  sale,  we  possibly  exercise 


Woolton  Comes  to  Town  291 

more  judgment  in  buying  than  you  do,  as  we  see  that 
everything  we  buy  is  a  quick  seller.  That  off-sets  the 
increased  cost  of  doing  business. 

"  Another  big  advantage  the  chain  store  has  over  the 
single  store,"  continued  Roger,  "  is  that  we  have  very 
little  unsalable  stock  to  dispose  of.  For  instance,  I 
have  just  had  a  lot  of  brushes  sent  me  from  one  of  the 
other  stores.  They  cannot  sell  them,  so,  rather  than 
have  them  sold  at  a  sacrifice,  the  brushes  were  sent  on 
to  us.  I  am  doing  quite  a  big  business  in  paint 
brushes  —  you  know. we  specialize  on  brushes  of  all 
kinds,  and  I  really  think  that  already  we  are  beginning 
to  dominate  that  field  in  Farmdale. 

"  By  the  way,"  added  Roger,  "  you  ought  to  meet 
Pat  Burke." 

"Pat  Burke?" 

"  Yes,  he  is  the  manager  of  the  new  Woolton  store 
here  —  awfully  nice  fellow." 

"  When  did  you  know  him?  "  I  said. 

"  Strange  to  say,  he  was  assistant  manager  of  the 
Hartford  Woolton  store  when  I  was  there,  and  I  got 
to  know  him  quite  well." 

"  I  hardly  like  to  call  on  him,"  I  said.  "  Remem- 
ber, he's  a  direct  competitor  of  mine,  and  next  door 
to  me." 

"  Competitor  nothing,"  said  Roger  good-naturedly. 
"  You  are  not  competitors  at  all.  You  are  selling  dif- 
ferent classes  of  goods,  and  you  ought  to  supplement 
each  other." 

That  was  a  new  thought  to  me.  I  wondered  if  a 
five-and-ten-cent  store  was  a  hindrance  or  a  help  to 
an  adjoining  hardware  store? 

A  man  named  Purkes  ran  a  grocery  store  at  the  cor- 


292       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

ner  opposite  Traglio's  drug  store.  He  was  an  under- 
sized man  and  fussed  and  interfered  with  everybody 
else's  business,  and  made  a  living  chiefly  because  he 
hadn't  much  competition. 

About  two  weeks  before,  a  salesman  of  cheap  enam- 
elware  had  come  into  town,  gone  to  Purkes,  and  sold 
him  two  or  three  cases  of  "  seconds."  Purkes  thought 
he  was  a  real  fellow  when  he  filled  his  window  full 
of  those  seconds.  The  same  week  I  was  having  a  dis- 
play of  perfect  enamelware.  He  put  a  price  on  his 
goods  of  ten  cents  each.  He  also  had  a  big  sign  in 
the  window,  reading ;  "  Don't  pay  fancy  prices  for 
enamelware.  Purkes's  cut-rate  grocery  store  will  sell 
you  all  you  want  for  ten  cents  each.  Pick  them  out 
as  long  as  they  last." 

Now,  old  Barlow  always  played  the  game  square. 
Stigler  was  certainly  a  hardware  man,  and  I  could 
stand  for  his  cut  prices ;  but,  when  a  grocery  store  came 
butting  in,  I  felt  mad,  and  I  told  Charlie  Martin  that 
I'd  like  to  get  Purkes's  scalp  somehow.  Charlie  sug- 
gested quite  a  good  little  stunt. 

Three  days  after  Purkes  offered  his  enamelware  I 
had  a  window  full  of  —  what  do  you  think?  —  tea ;  in 
half-pound  packets!  And  it  was  an  advertised  line, 
Milton's,  which  was  a  line  that  Purkes  had  sold  for  a 
long  time!  That  tea  usually  sold  for  fifty  cents  a 
pound.  I  put  a  sign  in  the  window  saying :  "  Why  pay 
fifty  cents  a  pound  for  Milton's  tea,  when  you  can 
buy  it  here  for  thirty-eight  cents  a  pound,  nineteen 
cents  the  half  pound." 

That  was  exactly  what  it  cost  us.  Martin  had  got 
hold  of  it  for  us  from  a  friend  of  his  in  Providence, 
who  was  a  wholesale  grocer. 


Woolton  Comes  to  Town  293 

You  really  would  have  laughed  to  see  Purkes  come 
flying  into  our  store  about  fifteen  minutes  after  our 
window  trim  was  complete.  He  reminded  me  of  a 
wet  hen  who  had  had  her  tail  feathers  pulled  out.  He 
couldn't  speak,  he  just  sputtered  and  pointed  to  the 
window.  After  a  minute  I  caught  the  words, 
"Scoundrel!"  and  "robber!"  and  "unjust!"  and 
"  report  to  the  Merchants'  Association !  " 

I  turned  around  and  caught  sight  of  Charlie  grin- 
ning his  head  off.  He  passed  the  high  sign  to  me, 
which  I  understood  to  mean  "  Let  him  talk."  So  I 
beckoned  to  Charlie  to  come  over. 

"  This  is  the  man  who  thought  up  that  idea,"  I 
said  to  Purkes.  "  It's  a  good  one,  don't  you 
think?" 

Both  Charlie  and  I  saw  that  Purkes  was  going  to 
explode  again,  so  Charlie  said : 

"  Now  listen,  Mr.  Purkes.  Do  you  think  it  is  any 
worse  for  us  to  sell  tea  than  for  you  to  sell  enamel- 
ware  ?  " 

"  But  that's  just  a  job  line  I  bought !  Just  the  little 
I  sell  could  not  hurt  you,"  —  then  he  added  mali- 
ciously, "  unless,  of  course,  you  get  fancy  prices  for 
your  goods." 

I  felt  like  throwing  him  out  of  the  store ;  but  Charlie 
ignored  his  last  remark  and  said,  "  That  idea  of  yours 
selling  enamelware  was  so  excellent  that  I  thought 
we  ought  to  copy  it.  You  sell  hardware  —  we  sell 
groceries." 

"  You  are  —  how  long  are  you  going  to  continue 
selling  tea?  " 

"  Only  until  this  lot  is  sold  out." 

"  I'll  tell  you  what,"  said  Purkes,  brightening  up, 


294       Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"I'll  buy  your  tea  of  you  and  you  buy  my  enamel- 
ware." 

"  We  don't  sell  seconds  in  enamelware,  Mr.  Purkes, 
so  your  enamelware  is  useless  to  us." 

"  Very  well,  I  will  continue  to  sell  enamelware." 

"  We  quite  expected  you  would,  Mr.  Purkes.  We 
are  not  going  to  sell  tea  after  we  have  cleaned  out  this 
one  lot,  however." 

"  But  by  the  time  you've  sold  out  that  one  lot  you 
will  have  established  such  a  ridiculous  price  that  I 
probably  will  have  to  cut  my  price  to  satisfy  the 
people.  Why,  the  stuff  costs  you  more  than  you  sell 
it  for." 

"  Guess  we're  satisfied  with  what  we  are  making  out 
of  tea,  Charlie,  aren't  we?" 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  but  I  think  we  are  going  to 
do  even  better  on  the  Cross  Tree  jams." 

These  jams  were  the  most  advertised  in  the  country, 
and  Purkes  was  the  local  agent  for  them. 

The  little  chap  let  off  a  scream.  "  I'll  stop  you  get- 
ting them !  "  he  cried.  "  I'll  sue  you !  —  I'll— !  "  He 
stopped  abruptly  and  asked,  "  Where  did  you  get 
them?" 

"  From  the  plumber's !  "  said  Charlie,  "  Where  did 
you  think  ?  " 

"  But  you  can't  get  them  —  I've  the  sole  agency." 

"  In  that  case,"  I  returned,  "  you've  nothing  to 
worry  about,  have  you  ?  " 

The  outcome  of  it  was,  however,  that  Purkes  prom- 
ised to  take  his  enamelware  off  sale  at  once  and  get  the 
manufacturers  to  take  it  back  —  even  at  a  loss  —  or, 
failing  that,  to  sell  his  stock  to  some  store  outside  of 
Farmdale.  We  in  return  were  to  sell  him  our  tea  at 


Woolton  Comes  to  Town  295 

forty  cents  a  pound.  The  little  chap  kicked  at  this,  but 
he  agreed. 

Having  got  the  matter  fixed  up,  he  said,  "  There 
now,  that's  settled,  thank  goodness.  It  isn't  nice  to 
have  disputes  among  friends,  is  it?  I'll  send  my  man 
up  for  that  tea  this  afternoon,  so  that  you  won't  be 
bothered  to  send  it  down,"  and  he  peered  over  his 
spectacles  and  smiled  benignly. 

"  We  will  let  you  have  the  tea  as  soon  as  your 
enamel  ware  has  left  town.  Until  then  we  will  keep  it 
here,  in  case  we  need  it,"  I  replied. 

"  What,  don't  you  trust  me?  "  he  exclaimed. 

Here  I  forgot  myself,  for  I  turned  round  sharply 
and  said:  "I  do  not!  I'm  almost  sorry  that  you 
agreed  to  get  rid  of  that  enamelware,  for,  by  heaven, 
there's  a  good  profit  in  groceries,  and  it  wouldn't  take 
me  more  than  two  minutes  to  get  into  that  line  my- 
self!" 

Old  Purkes  went  white  to  the  gills  and  assured  me 
hastily  that  he  would  get  the  enamelware  out  of  town 
as  quickly  as  possible. 

I  felt  so  stuck  on  myself  when  he  left  the  store  that 
I  wanted  to  stand  on  the  counter  and  crow. 

"  You  threw  a  good  bluff,"  said  Charlie,  after 
Purkes  had  left. 

"What  do  you  mean  —  bluff?"  said  I,  surprised. 
"  No  bluff  there.  I  meant  every  word  of  it !  " 

"  Even  to  starting  a  grocery  business?  " 

"  Aw,  that,"  I  said  sheepishly.  "  It  was  a  bit  fool- 
ish because,  while  business  is  booming  with  us,  I  find 
that  every  little  bit  of  extra  profit  I  make  has  to  go  into 
stock.  So,  as  regards  actual  cash,  I  am  no  better  off 
than  I  was  six  months  ago.  However,  bluff  or  no 


296       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

bluff,  I  really  think  we've  killed  the  grocer's  competi- 
tion." 

I  wonder  more  retail  merchants  don't  retaliate  in 
this  way  on  merchants  in  other  lines  who  make  this 
kind  of  competition.  Perhaps  they  don't  because  they 
don't  want  to  offend  a  fellow  townsman.  They  for- 
get, however,  that  their  fellow  townsman  doesn't  hesi- 
tate to  offend  them. 

Pat  Burke  came  into  the  store  that  afternoon  and 
introduced  himself  to  me,  saying,  "  Roger  Burns  sent 
me,  as  he  wanted  me  to  know  you." 

He  was  a  short,  thick-set  man,  and  spoke  on  general- 
ities for  a  little  while. 

"  How's  business  coming  along?  "  I  asked  him. 

"  Very  well  indeed,"  he  said. 

"  How  did  you  find  the  business  when  you  took  it 
over  from  Stigler  ?  " 

Without  any  expression  on  his  face  at  all  he  said, 
"  Just  about  what  we  expected." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  Stigler?  "  I  asked  him. 

He  didn't  say  anything  for  a  minute,  but  let  his  eyes 
roam  around  the  store. 

"  I  certainly  like  the  way  you  have  your  electrical 
goods  displayed,  Mr.  Black,"  he  said.  "  You  have  a 
good  trimmer,  whoever  he  is." 

"  I  do  it  myself." 

"  The  dickens  you  do !  "  he  commented.  "  Well, 
that  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  displays  I  have  seen 
in  a  long  while.  I  want  to  compliment  you.  If  you 
were  in  Boston  or  New  York  you  would  give  up  run- 
ning a  store  of  your  own,  and  be  head  of  the  decora- 
tive department  of  some  big  department  store.  Do 


Woolton  Comes  to  Town  297, 

you  know  that  some  of  those  head  window  trimmers 
make  as  much  as  five  thousand  dollars  a  year?  " 

We  got  on  a  general  discussion  of  window  trim- 
ming. 

"  Well,  I've  got  to  get  back  to  the  store,"  he  finally 
said.  "  When  you  have  an  evening  at  liberty  I  should 
like  to  have  a  chat  with  you.  I  think  we  ought  to  be 
able  to  help  each  other." 

It  was  not  until  he  had  gone  that  I  realized  that  he 
had  never  answered  my  question  relative  to  Stigler. 
He  put  it  off  as  neatly  as  anything  I  ever  saw. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

A   LOGICAL   PROFIT-SHARING   PLAN 

I  HAD  pledged  myself  to  a  profit-sharing  plan  with 
my  small  staff  for  the  year  beginning  June  i,  since  my 
fiscal  year  would  end  with  the  last  day  of  May. 

Think  of  it !  By  the  end  of  May  I  would  have  fin- 
ished my  first  year  in  business.  When  I  looked  back 
at  the  year's  experiences,  I  realized  that  I  surely  had 
learned  a  lot  in  that  short  time.  I  had  learned  more 
each  month  than  I  had  learned  in  all  the  time  I  was  a 
clerk.  The  reason  was,  I  suppose,  because  I  had  to 
learn,  whereas,  while  a  clerk,  I  had  had  neither  the 
inclination  to  learn  nor  the  encouragement.  I  think 
bosses  make  a  mistake  in  not  encouraging  their  people 
to  study  the  business. 

Now,  I  want  to  tell  about  my  profit-sharing  plan. 
For  almost  two  weeks  I  had  been  spending  nearly 
every  night  with  Jock  McTavish,  the  accountant  who 
had  helped  me  out  so  much  in  the  past.  I  had  told 
him  what  I  wanted,  and  we  had  worked  out  a  plan  be- 
tween us.  Jock  was  Scotch  and  old-fashioned.  I 
sometimes  called  him  glue  fingers,  because  whenever 
he  got  his  hand  on  money  it  stuck  to  him. 

"  Aw,  weel,  noo,"  said  Jock,  "  dinna  fash  yersel', 
mon!  Ye  may  talk  aboot  yer  pheelantropy  an'  yer 
wantin'  ta  help  yer  fella  creeters,  but  you  maun  ken 
that  you  canna  be  doin'  it  unless  ye  fir-rst  get  the  bau- 

298 


A  Logical  Profit-Sharing  Plan        299 

bees.  When  ye  took  o'er  tha  beesiness,  ye  planned 
tae  sell  thirty  thousand  dollars  worth  o'  goods  the 
fir-rst  year,  and  on  that  sales  quota  ye  planned  ex- 
penses to  be  twenty  per  cent." 

I  nodded  agreement. 

"  By  tha  end  o'  November,"  he  continued,  "  or,  in 
other  wor-rds,  at  the  end  o'  the  half  year,  ye  were 
$1,128.00  behind  your  quota." 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  but  'we  have  caught  that  up." 

"  Ye've  done  gr-rand,"  said  Jock.  "  Noo  frae  June 
o'  last  year  to  the  end  o'  February  ye  hae  doone  $22,- 
640.00,  or  $140.00  above  your  quota.  This  means 
that  tha  third  quarter  o'  your  fiscal  year  showed  an 
excess  over  its  quota  o'  $1,268.00,  which,  if  ye  had 
keppit  oop  tha  same  pace  through  aw'  tha  year,  would 
have  meant  an  excess  above  your  quota  o'  $5,072.00." 

"  Wait  a  minute,  Jock,"  I  interrupted,  "  you're 
making  my  head  go  round  with  all  those  figures." 
And  I  took  out  my  pencil  and  worked  the  figures. 

"  Sither,"  continued  Jock,  "  ye  planned  your  ex- 
penses to  be  twenty  per  cent,  on  a  $30,000.00  business, 
but,  as  a  matter  o'  fact,  it's  costing  ye  twenty-two  and 
one-half  per  cent,  on  that  basis." 

"  Let  me  see,"  I  said,  figuring  vigorously,  "  Twenty 
per  cent,  of  $30,000.00  —  that's  $6,000.00." 

"That  is  so!"  said  Jock. 

"  But  you  figure  that,  at  the  present  rate,  expenses 
will  approximate  twenty-two  and  one-half  per  cent,  of 
$30,000.00  —  or  $6,750.00." 

"  Ye  spoke  tha  truth,"  said  Jock.  "  In  other  words, 
ye're  losing  $750.00  worth  of  profit  which  ye  would 
a'  had  if  ye'd  conducted  your  beesiness  better." 

"I  guess  I've  —  " 


300       Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Tut,  tut,  mon,"  said  Jock.  "  I'm  no'  saying  ye 
haven't  done  grand.  Ye've  done  splendidly,  but  ye 
should  be  able  tae  keppit  your  expenses  doon  tae 
twenty  per  cent.  As  a  matter  o'  fact,  when  ye  do  more 
business  I  think  ye'll  be  able  to  do  so." 

"  Where  has  that  two  and  one-half  per  cent,  extra 
expense  gone  to  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  I'll  tell  ye,"  said  Jock.  "  Ye  planned  bad  debts 
tae  be  one-half  o'  one  per  cent.,  or  $150.00,  whereas 
they  are  aboot  one  per  cent,  or  $300.00." 

"  Yes,"  I  remarked  ruefully,  "  I  remember  that  we 
made  a  lot  of  bad  debts  when  we  first  took  over  the 
business;  but,  since  I  have  put  in  that  new  system  of 
keeping  closer  track  of  charge  accounts,  we  have  had 
very  little  loss  that  way.  We  will  be  down  to  our  one- 
half  of  one  per  cent,  next  year,"  I  added  cheerfully. 

"  Maybe  ye  will,"  said  Jock,  "  and  then  again,  maybe 
ye  won't.  Ye  will,  if  ye  can  keep  your  feet  on  the 
ground,  and  that  seems  deeficult  for  ye  to  do  all  the 
time,  does'na  it? 

"  Wi'  regar-rd  tae  advertising,"  he  continued,  "  we 
planned  it  should  be  aboot  one  per  cent.,  or  $300.00. 
Noo,  as  a  matter  o'  fact,  ye  hae  already  spent  that, 
and  will  probably  spend  $100.00  more  afore  your  fiscal 
year  is  oop.  Your  advertising  will  be  one  and  one- 
half  per  cent,  instead  of  one  per  cent.  There's  anither 
one-half  of  one  per  cent,  gone." 

"  Next  year  my  advertising  will  again  be  one  and 
one-half  per  cent,"  I  said,  firmly. 

"  All  richt,"  said  Jock,  "  but  dinna  forget  that  the 
extra  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  means  $150.00  cold 
cash." 

"  I'm  quite  willing  to  pay  it,"  I  said,  and  here  I  felt 


A  Logical  Profit-Sharing  Plan        301 

on  sure  ground,  for  I  was  convinced  that  the  adver- 
tising we  had  done  had  been  responsible  in  no  small 
degree  for  our  success  in  doing  as  much  business  as 
we  had. 

"  General  expenses,"  continued  Jock,  ignoring  my 
comment.  "  General  expenses  we  planned  should  be 
one  and  one-half  per  cent.,  or  $450.00,  but  they'll  be 
two  per  cent.,  or  $600.00. 

"  Your  rent  should  hae  been  three  per  cent.,  or 
$900.00.  As  a  matter  o'  fact,  it's  $1,000.00.  Depre- 
ciation was  planned  for  one-half  of  one  per  cent.,  but 
it'll  exceed  that,  or  so  I  surmise  from  what  ye  tell  me, 
so  that  ye  might  say  that  depreciation  and  rent  ac- 
counts for  anither  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  excess  o' 
your  expense  allowance." 

"  We  will  keep  depreciation  down  to  one-half  of  one 
per  cent,  nicely  next  year,"  I  commented.  "  I  will 
avoid  some  mistakes  in  buying  that  I  made  this  year, 
and,  besides,  I  will  have  cleaned  out  the  remnants  of 
the  old  stock  which  I  bought  from  Jimmy  Simpson." 

"  On  the  ither  hand,"  continued  Jock,  ignoring  alto- 
gether what  I  said,  "  ye  expected  delivery  costs  tae  be 
one-half  of  one  per  cent.,  or  $150.00,  whereas  I  dinna 
believe  they'll  exceed  $100.00,  so  there  is  a  wee  bit 
saving.  Salaries  should  hae  been  eleven  per  cent.,  or 
$3,300.00,  whereas  they're  rather  more  than  eleven  and 
one-half  per  cent.,  or  $3,450.00.  That  is  where  your 
two  and  one-half  per  cent,  has  departed.  I'll  sum- 
marize those  excess  expenses: 

Bad    debts Vi  per  cent. 

Advertising    ^  per  cent. 

General    expenses J/2  per  cent. 

Depreciation  and  rent Y*  per  cent. 

Salaries    Y*  per  cent. 


302       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Here's  the  poseetion,"  continued  Jock.  "  The 
average  mark-oop  is  thirty-three  and  one-third  per 
cent,  on  stock,  or  twenty-five  per  cent,  profit  on  sales 
price.  Expenses  were  planned  tae  be  twenty  per  cent, 
of  sales,  and,  had  that  been  so,  ye  would  hae  had  five 
per  cent,  profit  after  all  expenses  had  been  paid,  for 
yourself." 

I  began  to  listen  attentively.  Isn't  it  strange  how 
one  sits  up  and  takes  notice  when  one's  own  pocketbook 
is  in  discussion? 

"  As  it  is,"  said  Jock,  "  expenses  being  twenty-two 
and  one-half  per  cent.,  ye  make  only  two  and  one-half 
per  cent,  profit,  if  ye  do  the  amount  o'  business  ye 
expect." 

"///'  I  said  scornfully.     "  It's  a  cinch  we'll  do  it." 

"  I  hope  ye  will  that,  but  dinna  brag  aboot  it  'til  ye 
get  it.  Ye  canna  build  your  hoose  'til  ye've  got  the 
bricks. 

"  Listen,  noo,"  he  continued.  Jock  had  begun  to 
remind  me  of  an  inexorable  fate,  he  went  along  so 
quietly,  impartially,  just  as  if  he  were  passing  sentence 
on  me.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  making  me  think 
of  the  finances  of  my  business  in  a  way  that  I  had  never 
thought  of  them  before. 

"If  ye'd  made  five  per  cent,  net  profit  on  your 
$30,000.00  worth  of  business,  ye  would  hae  added 
$1,500.00  a  year  to  your  income,  whereas,  noo  that  ye 
may  make  only  two  and  one-half  per  cent,  on  that 
amount,  your  income  will  be  reduced  to  $750.00.  It's 
just  those  wee  bit  half  per  cents,  that  hae  taken 
$750.00  out  o'  your  pooch." 

"If  we  increase  our  sales,"  I  said,  "  of  course  that 
is  equal  to  increasing  our  rate  of  turn-over,  isn't  it  ?  " 


A  Logical  Profit-Sharing  Plan        303 

Jock  nodded.  "Now,  see  if  this  is  right:  If  we 
do  make  a  little  less  profit  on  each  turn-over,  the  actual 
dollars  and  cents  profit  at  the  end  of  the  year  may  be 
greater  than  it  would  be  if  we  made  a  larger  net  profit 
on  each  sale  but  didn't  sell  so  much  goods." 

"  Ye  reason  that  out  well,  lad,"  said  Jock,  and  some- 
how I  felt  quite  chesty  to  think  I  had  done  something 
which  pleased  the  old  heathen. 

"  If  ye  keep  your  expenses  as  at  present,  and  increase 
your  sales,  all  the  profit  on  the  excess  business  above 
your  quota  is  porridge.  Ye  dinna  hae  to  pay  any  ad- 
ditional amount  for  rent,  taxes,  heat,  light,  deprecia- 
tion, advertising,  or  insurance.  In  other  wor-rds, 
your  operating  expenses  on  all  business,  over  and 
above  your  sales  quota,  are  reduced  by  these  items. 
This  saving  would  reduce  your  operating  expenses 
eight  per  cent.,  meaning  that  this  excess  business  over 
your  quota  would  only  cost  ye  twelve  per  cent,  to  se- 
cure, instead  o'  twenty  per  cent.  As  a  matter  o'  fact, 
if  ye  can  get  more  business  than  your  quota  calls  for, 
vvi'oot  increasing  your  salaries,  that  would  eleeminate 
all  expenses  except  delivery  and  general  expenses. 
Noo,  if  ye  feel  ye  must  give  awaw  your  har-rd-earned 
money  here's  a  proposition  for  ye : 

"  Plan  tae  keep  your  salary  expense  at  its  present 
figure,  which  is  based  on  $30,000.00  worth  of  sales 
annually. 

"  Ye  can  afford  to  pay  eleven  cents  for  salaries  oot 
o'  every  dollar  ye  get.  Give  eleven  cents  on  every 
dollar  ye  take,  above  $30,000.00,  to  your  salespeople, 
as  a  bonus  and  divide  it  among  them  according  to  their 
salaries.  For  example,  suppose  next  year  ye  do  $40,- 
ooo.oo  worth  of  business  —  and  ye  ought  tae  be  able 


304       Datvson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

tae  do  this,  because  ye're  selling  at  a  slightly  better 
rate  than  $35,000.00  a  year  noo.  If  ye  do,  ye  secure 
$10,000.00  above  your  sales  quota.  Eleven  per  cent, 
of  $10,000.00  is  $1,110.00,  which  ye  could  deestribute 
among  your  folk." 

I  referred  to  my  note  book  of  expenses,  and 
said:  "Our  salaries  at  present  total  $71.00  a 
week." 

"  Including  yoursel'  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  answered. 

"  Weel,"  continued  Jock,  "  that  bonus  would  add 
$22.00  weekly  to  that  $71.00.  That  means  for  every 
ten  dollars  o'  salary  now  earned  there  would  be  added 
$3.14  bonus." 

"How  would  it  work  out  in  Larsen's  case?"  I 
asked.  "  He  gets  $20.00  a  week." 

"  His  bonus  would  bring  his  salary  to  aboot  $26.00 
a  week.  Another  way  o'  putting  it  is  that  every  dollar 
o'  weekly  salary  seecures  a  bonus  o'  $16.12  a  year. 
I  would  suggest  ye  pay  a  bonus  every  quarter  —  if 
your  quarter's  quota  o'  sales  is  seecured." 

"  Suppose  we  need  extra  help?  "  I  said. 

"If  ye  hae  tae  have  extra  help,  the  expense  o'  it'll 
hae  to  come  oot  o'  the  $1,100.00  bonus,  or  whatsoever 
the  amount  might  be.  Unless  ye  did  this,  ye'd  be  ex- 
ceeding your  original  allowance  for  wages.  If  your 
people  know  that,  the  less  people  there  are  wor-rkin', 
the  more  money  each  o'  them  makes,  they'll  all  o' 
them  work  as  har-rd  as  they  can  to  accomplish  the 
results  wi'oot  adding  extra  people  tae  tha  payroll. 
There  is  one  ither  thing  I  must  warn  ye  of,  and  that 
is,  tell  all  your  people  that  this  is  only  a  plan  tae  be 
tried  for  a  year,  and  that  each  year  ye'll  decide  upon 


A  Logical  Profit-Sharing  Plan        305 

the  sales  quota  according  tae  the  growth  o'  the  beesi- 
ness." 

"  I  think  I  follow  you,"  I  said  thoughtfully.  "  The 
more  business  we  do  with  less  help,  and  therefore  less 
payroll,  the  bigger  will  be  the  bonus  to  divide.  But 
where  do  I  come  out  in  all  this?  "  I  asked.  "  Eleven 
hundred  dollars  seems  a  lot  to  give  to  those  fellows." 

"  Here's  where  you  benefit,"  said  Jock.  "  Ye  give 
yourself  a  salary  at  present  of  $25.00  a  week,  don't 
you?  That's  $1,300.00  a  year.  Now,  then,  if  ye 
sell  $45,000.00  worth  of  goods  next  year,  ye  will 
make  a  net  profit  of  five  per  cent,  on  $40,000.00,  which 
is  $2,000." 

"  That's  so,"  I  commented. 

"  In  addition  to  that,"  he  continued,  "  ye  make  an 
extra  eight  per  cent,  on  $10,000.00,  the  excess  sales 
over  quota,  on  which  ye  hae  no  expense  ither  than  sal- 
aries; eight  per  cent,  of  that  $10,000.00  is  $800.00. 
Then,  again,  remember  that  ye  share  in  the  bonus,  for 
eleven  per  cent,  for  salaries  includes  your  ain,  so  ye 
receive  a  bonus  of  $403.00  oot  o'  that  $1,100.00.  In 
other  wor-rds,  if  ye  hae  $40,000.00  worth  o'  beesiness 
the  next  fiscal  year,  and  keep  your  expenses  doon  tae 
twenty  per  cent,  on  a  sales  quota  o'  $30,000.00,  your 
income  would  be  $4,503.00." 

"Can  you  beat  it!"  I  said,  under  my  breath. 
"  Four  thousand  five  hundred  and  three  dollars,"  I 
continued  slowly,  "  Ninety  dollars  a  week.  Great 
Scott,  that's  making  money !  " 

"  It's  aw'  a  question  o'  being  able  to  get  your  people 
to  speed  up  your  sales  to  increase  the  turn-over  o'  your 
capital  so  as  tae  make  extra  profit  wi-oot  extra  sales- 
people," said  Jock. 


306       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  That's  salesmanship,"  I  commented,  for  I  remem- 
bered that  my  friend  Robert  Sirle  —  if  I  could  call 
such  a  big  man  my  friend  —  had  said  that  "  salesman- 
ship is  the  creation  of  additional  business  without  ad- 
ditional cost."  "  What  we  must  exercise  this  next 
year  is  salesmanship.  Why,  I  can  afford  to  make 
small  increases  in  salaries  and  still  make  a  good  thing 
for  myself,"  I  added. 

"  Aye,"  said  Jock,  "  o'  course  ye  can  make  increases 
in  salaries,  but  recollect  ye  can  only  give  people  the 
money  in  one  way  or  the  ither.  If  ye  increase  sal- 
aries ye  must  reduce  bonuses  in  proportion." 

I  decided  to  try  the  plan,  and  at  our  next  Monday 
evening  meeting  I  announced  it  to  the  fellows.  Jock 
was  there,  fortunately,  to  explain  it  all  to  them,  and 
finally  they  all  understood  it.  Larsen,  however,  said 
dubiously,  "  It's  complicated  to  me,  Boss." 

"  All  ye've  got  tae  think  aboot,"  said  Jock,  in  answer 
to  him,  "  is  that  ye  get  no  bonus  until  the  store  has 
sold  $30,000.00  worth  o'  goods.  After  that  eleven 
cents  on  every  dollar  is  divided  amongst  ye  according 
to  your  salaries." 

"  When  you  start  it,  Boss  ?  "  then  asked  Larsen. 

"We  will  start  this  on  June  I,"  I  said.  I  noticed 
Larsen's  face  fell,  as  also  did  Jones'.  "  But,"  I  con- 
tinued, and  here  they  brightened  up,  "if  we  do  exceed 
our  $30,000.00  this  year,  I  shall  give  a  bonus,  though 
only  half  of  what  it  will  be  next  year." 

"  Why  only  half  ?  "  asked  Larsen. 

"  Because,"  said  I,  "  our  expenses  have  been  $750.00 
too  high  as  it  is.  If  we  do  exceed  our  $30,000.00  for 
the  year  ending  May  31,  we  will  split  up  six  cents  on 
every  dollar  over  that  amount,  in  proportion  to  your 


A  Logical  Profit-Sharing  Plan        307 

salaries.  How  does  that  strike  you  ?  "  I  said,  for  every 
one  was  silent. 

Larsen  rose  to  his  feet,  coughed  impressively,  and 
said:  "Mr.  Black,  on  behalf  of  us  fellows  I  say  we 
appreciate  it.  I  don't  quite  follow  this  per  cent,  stuff. 
You  are  bigger  business  man  than  we," —  I  could  not 
help  looking  at  Charlie  Martin,  when  he  said  this,  for 
Charlie,  with  his  thorough  business  training  in  the 
college  of  business  administration,  I  knew  to  be  a 
better  business  man,  on  the  theory  of  business,  at  any 
rate,  than  all  the  rest  of  us  —  "  and,  if  you  say  so,  we 
know  it's  O.  K.  It  looks  good  to  me.  I  know  the 
wife  will  be  tickled  to  pieces." 

I  smiled  at  the  way  Larsen  drifted  from  general 
congratulations  to  thoughts  of  his  wife. 

Well,  the  meeting  broke  up  pleasantly,  and  every 
one  left  with  a  firm  determination  to  do  his  best  to 
increase  sales  without  the  need  of  increasing  our  force. 
Jones  and  Larsen  and  the  boy  Jimmie  walked  down  the 
road  together,  and  I  heard  Jones  say :  "  We  will  work 
day  and  night.  If  we  can  only  do  the  business  without 
getting  any  more  help  —  " 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

A    BOOMERANG    IDEA 

I  HAD  thought  of  a  great  idea  to  profit  by  agitation 
against  the  high  cost  of  living.  The  idea  had  come  to 
me  when  reading  a  story  in  a  business  paper  which 
had  said  that  it  was  not  high  cost  of  living  we  were 
suffering  from,  but  cost  of  high  living,  and,  instead 
of  buying  things  in  bulk  as  we  used  to  do,  we  bought 
in  packages  and  had  to  pay  a  whole  lot  of  money  for 
the  package  —  and  the  advertising  of  them.  It  had 
said  also  that  the  modern  housewife  was  lazy  and 
would  not  do  things  for  herself  if  she  could  get  them 
done  by  some  one  else,  and  that  she  thought  more  of 
tango  teas  than  toting  baby  carriages.  The  article  had 
finished  up  by  saying :  "  How  many  housewives  do  you 
know,  Mr.  Reader,  who  will  make  their  own  soap,  do 
their  own  washing,  bake  their  own  bread,  and  such  like 
housewifely  accomplishments  which  our  parents  and 
grandparents  took  pride  in  performing?" 

Now,  it  hadn't  seemed  to  me  that  that  was  quite 
fair  to  the  housewives.  Betty,  for  one,  was  no  tango- 
trotter.  Well,  my  brilliant  foozle  of  an  idea  had  been 
to  make  a  splurge  on  bread  mixers.  I  had  always  car- 
ried one  or  two  in  stock,  but  never  had  done  much 
with  them.  So  I  ordered  three  dozen  as  a  starter, 
that  is,  two  cases,  and  I  got  a  really  good  price  on  them. 

Then  I  ran  an  ad.  in  the  paper,  saying  that  it  had  been 

308 


A  Boomerang  Idea  309 

said  the  modern  housewife  preferred  to  have  things 
done  for  her  rather  than  to  do  them  herself,  but  that  I 
felt  it  was  not  so,  and  that,  just  to  show  that  the  mod- 
ern woman  could  do  as  well  as  the  previous  generation, 
I  had  started  a  bread-making  contest  I  used  a  slo- 
gan :  "  You  can  make  bread  better  than  mother  by 
using  the  Plintex  Bread  mixer." 

I  then  asked  every  one  to  buy  a  bread  mixer,  bake  a 
loaf  of  bread  with  its  aid,  and  leave  it  at  the  store.  I 
also  stated  that  I  would  turn  all  the  bread  baked  over 
to  the  hospital,  and  I  offered  an  electric  chafing  dish 
for  the  best  loaf  baked.  I  concluded  by  saying  that 
three  prominent  citizens  would  be  the  judges. 

I  had  determined  to  surprise  every  one  by  this  stunt, 
but  when  it  came  out  no  one  was  quite  so  surprised  as  I 
was  at  its  reception.  When  I  took  the  ad.  to  the  news- 
paper office  the  fellow  grinned  as  I  handed  it  to  him. 

"  Good  idea,  isn't  it?  "  I  said. 

"  Some  idea  all  right,  Mr.  Black,"  said  he. 

Next  morning,  when  I  arrived  at  the  store,  Charlie 
Martin  was  waiting  for  me  with  a  paper  in  his  hand. 
Said  he,  "  Mr.  Black,  did  you  put  this  in?  " 

"  Sure,"  I  answered. 

"  I  thought  perhaps  Stigler  was  trying  to  get  at  you 
in  some  way,"  said  Charlie. 

I  went  hot  and  cold  all  over,  for  I  felt  right  then  and 
there  that  I  had  made  a  big  mistake. 

"  Who's  your  committee  of  three  prominent  citi- 
zens ?  "  he  then  asked. 

"  I  have  not  picked  them  yet,"  I  said  rather  sheep- 
ishly. 

"  But,''  said  Charlie,  "  a  citizen  may  be  prominent 
without  knowing  much  about  bread.  Incidentally, 


310       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

after  those  three  prominent  citizens  have  tested  every 
loaf  of  bread,  Heaven  help  the.  poor  babies  in  the  hos- 
pital who  have  to  eat  what  is  left!  And,  say,  if  my 
landlady  were  to  bake  a  loaf  of  bread  in  this  contest, 
there  would  be  death  at  some  one's  doorstep.  She  can 
no  more  bake  bread  than  I  can  fly." 

"  Well,"  I  remonstrated,  "  those  people  who  can't 
bake  bread  won't  send  in  loaves." 

"  I  am  inclined  to  think,"  said  Charlie,  "  that  they 
are  just  the  people  who  will.  And,  incidentally,  you 
insist  on  every  one  buying  a  bread  mixer  before  send- 
ing in  a  loaf.  Why  don't  you  try  the  same  thing  with 
ice  cream  freezers?  Insist  on  them  spending  a  few 
dollars  to  buy  an  ice  cream  freezer,  and  submit  a  dab 
of  ice  cream  for  a  contest?  " 

"  I  wish  I  had  talked  it  over  with  you,  now,  Charlie," 
I  blurted  out. 

"  So  do  I,"  said  Charlie. 

Just  then  the  telephone  bell  rang.  Larsen  answered 
and  said  it  was  for  me.  Mr.  Barlow  was  at  the  tele- 
phone. 

"  Say,  Dawson,"  he  began,  "  who  worked  up  that 
brilliant  ad.  you  have  in  the  paper  this  morning?  " 

"  I  did,"  I  said,  feeling  pretty  cheap,  somehow. 

"  Did  you  find  the  women  all  lined  up  on  the  door- 
step this  morning,  ready  to  buy  bread  mixers  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"  What's  the  matter  with  the  idea?  "  I  said. 

"  Nothing,  it's  a  great  idea.  I'm  going  to  advertise 
traction  engines  among  the  farmers,  and  offer  a  prize 
of  two  eggs  to  the  farmer  who  makes  it  hoe  a  row  of 
potatoes  quickest." 

"  You  are  carrying  the  idea  to  a  point  of  absurdity," 


A  Boomerang  Idea  311 

I  said.     "  What's  the  matter  with  my  idea,  anyhow  ?  " 

"  Ask  Charlie  Martin ;  I  guess  he  can  help  you,"  he 
answered.  "  And  say,  Dawson,  I  don't  want  to  hurt 
your  feelings;  but,  if  I  were  you,  I  would  not  try  any 
more  brilliant  stunts  without  talking  them  over  with 
Charlie  or  some  one  else  first.  The  bulk  of  your  ideas 
are  fine,  you  know,  but  occasionally  you  slip  a  cog." 

I  hung  up  the  receiver,  then  turned  to  Charlie  and 
said :  "  I  thought  I  had  a  pretty  good  idea." 

"  You  had  a  good  idea,"  he  said,  "  but  worked  it 
out  incorrectly.  It  is  such  a  bald  attempt  to  sell 
bread  mixers.  You  don't  give  any  reason  why  they 
should  buy  bread  mixers.  The  only  reason  you  ask 
them  to  buy  the  mixers  is  to  enter  the  contest.  Now, 
the  better-class  women  won't  do  it,  and  the  poorer 
people  have  not  money  to  buy  mixers." 

"  I  never  thought  of  that,"  I  said. 

"  Then,  again,"  said  Charlie,  "  you  have,  or  had, 
quite  a  good  customer  for  hardware  in  the  Empire 
Bread  Company.  I  wonder  what  they  will  think  of 
you  urging  people  to  stop  trading  with  them?  " 

"  Good  heavens !  "  I  gasped.  "  I  never  thought  of 
that,  either." 

"  Evidently  not,"  said  Charlie. 

"  I  am  going  right  down  to  see  them,"  I  said,  and  I 
seized  my  hat  and,  before  he  could  say  another  word,  I 
was  on  my  way  to  see  Mr.  Burgess  of  the  Empire 
Bread  Company. 

When  I  arrived  at  Mr.  Burgess'  office  I  heard  him 
and  Stigler  (Stigler  above  all  people)  laughing.  The 
boy  told  Burgess  I  was  there,  and  I  was  asked  to  go 
right  in,  which,  like  a  fool,  I  did. 

"How-de,  Black?"  said  Stigler.     "Have  yer  just 


312       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

dropped  around  to  see  if  Mr.  Burgess  will  enter  a  loaf 
of  bread  in  yer  bread-mixing  contest?  " 

I  ignored  him  and  turned  to  Burgess  and  said :  "  I 
didn't  know  you  were  engaged  —  I  will  wait  until  you 
are  through." 

"Don't  bother,  Black,"  said  Stigler,  "I  am  going 
now,"  then,  turning  to  Burgess,  he  added :  "  All  right, 
Mr.  Burgess,  I'll  see  that  yer  have  them  things  this 
afternoon." 

My  heart  sank  when  I  heard  those  words,  for  the 
Empire  Bread  Company  was  a  good  steady  customer 
of  mine  —  one  of  the  best,  in  fact.  Burgess  used  to 
trade  with  Stigler,  but  they  got  at  cross  purposes  over 
something  and  the  business  had  come  to  me,  and  had 
been  with  me  for  over  six  months. 

"  Say,  Mr.  Burgess,"  I  began,  as  soon  as  Stigler  had 
left  the  room,  "  I'm  awfully  sorry  for  that  ad." 

"  Don't  you  be  sorry,  Black,"  he  said,  "  it  will  prob- 
ably be  good  business  for  you.  In  fact,  I  think  we  will 
have  to  enter  a  loaf  of  bread  in  that  contest  ourselves. 
It  might  be  good  advertising  for  the  Empire  Bread 
Company  to  win  the  thirty-cent  cheese  dish,  or  what- 
ever it  is,  that  you  are  giving  for  making  the  best 
loaf  of  bread." 

"  I  don't  know  how  I  ever  did  such  a  foolish  thing," 
I  said ;  "  but  I  want  you  to  know  that  I  shall  advertise 
to-night  that  the  contest  is  abandoned  on  account  of 
inability  to  get  together  the  committee  of  judges." 

"  Hm ! "  said  Burgess.  "  I  can  just  imagine  the 
people  saying,  '  I  guess  the  Empire  people  got  after 
him.  That  is  why  he  is  squealing.'  Still,  you  know 
your  own  business  best.  And  now  please  excuse  me, 
for  I  am  very  busy." 


A  Boomerang  Idea  313 

"  For  heaven's  sake  tell  me  what  I  ought  to  do,  Mr. 
Burgess!  If  I  hadn't  been  so  bull-headed  I  never 
would  have  got  into  this  mess." 

"  And,"  smiled  Burgess,  "  you  think  it  is  bad  busi- 
ness to  risk  losing  ours  ?  " 

"  Why  —  partly  —  I  certainly  didn't  want  to  hurt 
your  business,"  I  said. 

"  Believe  me,  Black,  a  thing  like  that  won't  hurt  our 
business ;  but  it's  good  to  change  at  times,  so  we  have 
switched  over  to  Stigler  for  a  little  while.  Some  day, 
perhaps,  we  will  give  you  a  chance  at  some  more  of 
our  business;  and  now  you  really  will  have  to  excuse 
me." 

I  found  myself  walking  back  to  the  store  feeling 
very  disconsolate,  indeed.  I  decided  that,  at  any  rate, 
I  would  not  risk  any  more  advertising  on  that  wretched 
bread-making  contest,  until  I  saw  what  was  going  to 
happen.  Charlie  met  me  near  the  post  office.  "  I 
guess  we  have  lost  the  Empire  account,  haven't  we?  " 
he  asked. 

I  groaned. 

"  Well,  cheer  up,  Mr.  Black,  we  all  make  mistakes 
—  and  it  will  be  forgotten  in  a  day  or  two.  But  —  " 
and  then  he  hesitated. 

"  Go  on,  Charlie,"  I  said,  "  I  really  want  to  get  your 
advice." 

"  All  right,  then.  If  I  were  you,  Mr.  Black,  when- 
ever you  plan  any  advertising,  see  first  of  all  that  it 
is  not  going  to  hurt  any  one  else's  business;  next, 
whenever  you  run  a  prize  contest,  run  one  without  any 
strings  attached  to  it;  and,  when  you  give  a  prize  — 
give  something  other  than  what  you  sell." 

"  Do  you  believe  in  prize  contests  ?  "  I  asked  Charlie. 


314      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  As  a  general  rule,  no.  I  think  if  you  have  any 
money  to  spend  for  advertising,  you  had  much  better 
spend  it  in  advertising  just  what  you  are  selling,  giv- 
ing people  reasons  why  they  should  buy  your  goods. 
That  sounds  humdrum  and  everyday,  I  know. 
There's  nothing  apparently  brilliant  about  it,  but  it 
gets  results.  Notice  the  really  big  advertisers.  They 
advertise  the  goods  they  have  to  sell,  and  it  is  very 
seldom  you  find  them  branching  off  into  prize-contest 
ideas." 

"  What  about  the  '  Globrite  '  flashlight?  "  I  said. 

"  That  prize  contest  complies  with  the  three  rules  I 
mentioned.  The  prizes  were  cash  prizes  and  big  ones. 
The  public  didn't  have  to  buy  anything  to  enter.  The 
prizes  were  big  enough  to  tempt  people  to  study  '  Glo- 
brite '  goods,  and  that  really  advertised  the  flashlights 
to  every  contestant." 

Somehow,  Charlie's  quiet  confidence  made  me  feel 
better.  But,  candidly,  I  hated  to  be  seen  on  the  street 
those  days,  for  everybody  asked  me  how  the  bread- 
making  contest  was  getting  on. 

At  the  end  of  three  days,  we  had  not  sold  a  single 
bread  mixer ! 


CHAPTER  XL 

RULES    FOR    GIVING    SERVICE 

OUR  next  Monday  evening  meeting  had  proved  quite 
interesting.  We  had  sold  one  bread  mixer,  but,  thank 
heaven,  no  one  had  inflicted  a  loaf  of  bread  upon  us! 
I  was  hoping  that  that  foolish  stunt  of  mine  would  die 
a  natural  death  —  and  that's  a  better  one  than  it  de- 
served. 

The  matter  for  discussion  at  the  meeting  was  in- 
troduced by  Jones,  who  had  in  his  hand  a  copy  of  that 
little  "  Service  "  booklet  which  we  had  issued. 

"  I  was  thinking  over  this  little  booklet  the  other 
day,"  said  he,  "  but,  do  you  know,  Mr.  Black,  I  don't 
think  we  are  living  up  to  it,  somehow." 

"  In  what  way  do  you  mean  ?  "  I  asked  him. 

"  Well,  we  talk  about  service  and  how  we  want 
people  to  feel  they  are  at  home,  and  all  that,  and  — 
Oh,  I  don't  know  how  to  express  it,"  he  floundered. 

I  certainly  didn't  know  what  he  was  driving  at.  I 
looked  at  Larsen,  and  his  face  was  a  blank;  then  I 
looked  at  Charlie,  and,  as  I  did  so,  he  said : 

"  I'd  like  to  ask  Jones  a  question,"  and  he  turned  to 
Jones,  saying,  "  What  you  mean  is  that,  while  we 
talk  of  giving  service,  we  have  not  any  definite  plan 
of  going  about  it.  Isn't  that  it?  " 

"  Yep,"  said  Jones,  "  we  have  no  rules  or  regula- 
tions or  anything  of  that  kind." 

"  I  see  what  you  mean,"  I  said.     "  You  mean  we 

315 


316       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

talk  about  service,  but  don't  give  the  atmosphere  of 
service." 

"  That's  exactly  it,"  went  on  Jones,  "  we  ought  to 
be  able  to  give  people  the  feeling  that  they  are  being 
treated  differently  when  they  come  into  the  store." 

"  Store  atmosphere,  that  is,"  said  Charlie,  "  and  the 
way  to  get  it  is  by  having  definite  rules  of  conduct  — 
rules  which  every  one  should  live  up  to." 

"  Do  you  think  it  is  worth  while  having  a  set  of 
written  rules  of  conduct  in  a  little  store  like  this?  "  I 
asked. 

"  Being  a  Yankee,"  laughed  Martin,  "  I'll  answer 
you  by  asking  you  another  question.  Do  you  think 
it  is  as  important  for  a  small  store  to  have  proper  ac- 
counting methods  as  a  big  store  ?  " 

For  an  hour  or  more  we  had  an  animated  discus- 
sion on  what  rules  of  conduct  we  ought  to  adopt  for 
our  store,  and  finally  we  worked  up  a  list  of  twenty- 
one,  which  I  give  as  follows : 

1.  No  customer  must  leave  our  store  dissatisfied. 

2.  The  customer  on  whom  you  wait  requires  all  your 
attention. 

3.  Approach  the  customer  who  enters  the  store;  do 
not  wait  for  the  customer  to  approach  you. 

4.  Remember  that  the  object  you  have  in  view  is  to 
sell  goods  at  a  profit  to  the  store,  and  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  customer. 

5.  The  more  customers  you  have,  and  the  more  each 
one  spends,  the  nearer  you  are  to  the  attainment  of 
your  sales  quota. 

6.  Customers  come  into  the  store  for  their  con- 
venience.    Let  your  speech   and  manner  show  that 
you  appreciate  the  opportunity  of  serving  them. 


Rules  for  Giving  Service  317 

7.  Cleanliness  is  imperative,  from  the  floor  to  the 
ceiling,  from  your  hair  and  your  shoes  to  your  finger 
nails. 

8.  A  smile  costs  nothing.     Give  one  to  every  cus- 
tomer. 

9.  Show  your  appreciation  of  their  patronage  by 
always  saying  "  Thank  you  "  when  giving  the  pack- 
age or  the  change. 

10.  Customers   come   into  the   store  to  buy  mer- 
chandise, not  to  talk  to,  or  admire  you.     Do  not  wear 
anything,  or  say  anything,  that  will  distract  attention 
away  from  the  goods  to  yourself. 

n.  Repeat  the  name  and  address  of  a  customer 
whenever  goods  have  to  be  charged  or  delivered.  An 
error  in  writing  the  name  of  a  customer  is  almost  a 
crime. 

12.  Write  distinctly  so  that  others  will  know  what 
you  mean. 

13.  Try  to  know  the  names  of  customers  and,  when 
addressing  them,  use  their  names. 

14.  Never    correct    customers'     pronunciation    of 
goods.     For  preference,  adopt  their  pronunciation. 

15.  The  store  is  a  place  for  business.     Do  not  al- 
low it  to  be  used  as  a  meeting  place  for  loafers  or  for 
gossips.     Nothing  drives  away  real  customers  more 
quickly  than  this. 

1 6.  "  Punctuality  is  the  soul  of  business."     Be  at 
the  store  punctually  and  wait  on  customers  promptly. 

17.  Study  your  goods  and  show  seasonal  articles 
to  all  customers  whom  you  can  interest  in  them,  es- 
pecially if  the  goods  are  being  advertised. 

1 8.  Don't  wait  till  you  sell  the  last  one  of  an  article 


318       Dowoson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

before  putting  it  on  the  want  book.     Remember  that  it 
takes  time  to  get  supplies. 

1.9.  Exercise  care  in  displaying  goods.  Goods  well 
displayed  are  half  sold. 

20.  Adopt  as  your  personal  slogan: 

"If  every  worker  were  just  like  me, 
What  kind  of  a  store  would  this  store  be  ?  " 

21.  Work  with  your  fellow  workers. 

We  felt  quite  pleased  with  that  list  of  rules,  and  the 
more  I  looked  at  them  the  better  they  seemed  to  me. 

We  had  a  discussion  as  to  which  of  the  twenty-one 
rules  of  conduct  was  the  best.  Larsen  said  that  num- 
ber one  was  the  best.  I  favored  twenty-one.  Charlie 
said  four  was  the  best,  and  we  finally  agreed  with  him. 

"  Four,"  said  Charlie,  "  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
best,  because  the  whole  object  of  running  this  business 
is  to  make  a  profit.  All  the  other  rules  are  followed 
merely  in  order  to  secure  that  object." 

I  really  believed  that  we  would  find  it  easier  to  work 
according  to  definite  rules,  than  to  continue  with  no 
rules  for  our  guidance.  Furthermore,  we  ought  to  be 
happier,  working  harmoniously  together  along  definite 
lines.  We  all  agreed  that  following  these  twenty-one 
rules  would  help  us  to  give  the  store  an  atmosphere  of 
good  service,  the  square  deal,  truthfulness  and  co- 
operation. 

Larsen  had  resumed  his  Thursday  afternoon  hunts 
for  business.  The  first  Thursday,  when  the  old  chap  got 
back  to  the  store,  he  was  almost  crying  with  delight. 

"  Say,  Boss,"  he  said,  "  those  people  seemed  real  glad 
to  see  me.  They  ask  me  where  I  been  so  long.  I  tell 


Rules  for  Giving  Service  319 

them  I  was  sick.  That's  why  I  dropped  Thursday 
trips.  I  felt  I  was  meetin'  old  friends." 

"  Fine ! "  I  said.  "  How  much  business  did  you 
get?" 

"  Sixteen  dollars'  worth,"  he  said.  "  I  think  by 
keeping  at  it  we'll  get  lots  of  new  business.  Remem- 
ber old  Seldom  ?  —  well,"  ( Seldom  was  a  real  estate 
man  and  quite  well-to-do)  "  he  saw  me  coming  in  and 
came  out  of  his  office  to  me.  He  made  me  go  to 
Traglio's  and  gave  me  a  cigar.  Then  he  said, 
'  There's  nothing  I'm  wanting,  Larsen,  but  step  over 
to  the  house ;  I'll  tell  the  missus  you  are  coming  over.' 
Well,  Boss,  I  go  to  the  house  and  see  her.  She  had  a 
mail-order  catalog  and  was  making  out  an  order. 
She's  good-natured  and  fat.  She  make  me  cup  of  tea. 
She  showed  me  order  to  go  to  Chicago." 

"  What  was  it  for  ?  "  I  asked  Larsen. 

"  A  bread  mixer,  for  one  thing,"  said  Larsen, 
grinning. 

I  remembered  my  bread-mixer  episode,  so  I  said: 
"Well,  why  didn't  she  come  here  for  it?  Goodness 
knows  we  advertised  them  enough." 

"  That's  what  she  said.  She  said  it  advertised  too 
much.  She  thought  if  she  bought  one  she  get  her 
name  in  paper  or  something." 

"  Why,  that's  nonsense,"  I  remonstrated. 

"  That's  what  she  said  of  the  ad,"  said  Larsen. 

"  Oh,  well,  forget  it,"  I  cried  peevishly.  "  Did  you 
get  an  order  from  her  ?  " 

"  The  only  one  I  did  get.  Here  it  is  —  sixteen  dol- 
lars! I  try  to  sell  her  pencil  sharpener,  but  she 
say,  '  That's  a  man's  buy.'  I'll  sell  Seldom  one  for 
her." 


320       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Didn't  any  of  the  other  people  you  called  on  want 
anything?  " 

"  No,"  said  Larsen,  "  they  not  expect  me.  I  didn't 
like  to  push  this  trip.  I  think  we  oughta  make  a  list 
of  season  stuff  and  call  on  regular  customers.  We 
could  sell  them  stuff  they  buy  from  mail-order  folks." 

Larsen  was  determined  to  find  some  way  of  coping 
with  the  mail-order  houses.  We  certainly  had  had 
some  little  success,  but  the  mail-order  houses  seemed 
always  to  be  everlastingly  on  the  job. 


CHAPTER  XLI 

ENDORSING   A   NOTE   FOR   A   FRIEND 

WHEN  I  was  a  boy  I  had  been  great  chums  with 
a  lad  named  Larry  Friday.  Larry  used  to  sleep  at  our 
house  every  other  night,  and  I  would  sleep  at  his 
house  every  other  night.  We  certainly  knew  each 
other  as  well  as  two  boys  could. 

About  six  years  before  I  bought  this  store,  he  had 
left  town,  when  his  father  had  moved  to  Providence. 
His  father  had  failed  there,  his  mother  had  died,  and 
Larry,  who  had  always  had  plenty  of  spending  money, 
was  thrown  on  his  own  resources.  I  had  lost  track 
of  him,  so  you  can  imagine  my  surprise  when  he 
walked  into  the  store  one  day. 

We  had  a  long  chat  over  old  times  and  I  took 
him  home  for  the  night.  Then  he  told  me  that  he 
had  saved  up  a  few  hundred  dollars,  and  wanted  to 
get  another  five  hundred  dollars,  for  a  little  while, 
to  enable  him  to  buy  a  small  stationery  business  in 
Providence.  His  father  had  been  in  the  paper  busi- 
ness, and  for  that  reason  he  naturally  leaned  toward 
that  line. 

"  That's  too  bad,  old  man,"  I  remarked,  when  he 
told  me  that  he  was  five  hundred  dollars  short.  "If 
I  had  the  money  I'd  be  only  too  glad  to  lend  it  to  you," 
as,  indeed,  I  would  have  been. 

"  That's  what  I  came  to  see  you  about,  partly,"  he 
321 


322      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

replied,  leaning  over  and  becoming  very  serious. 
"  Now,  the  present  owner  of  that  store  is  willing  to 
take  my  note  for  two  months  for  the  five  hundred 
dollars,  if  I  can  —  find  some  responsible  endorser. 
Listen,  old  man," —  and  he  brought  out  several  sheets 
of  paper  all  covered  with  figures.  "  Let  me  tell  you 
exactly  the  condition  of  the  store." 

The  figures  that  he  had  seemed  to  show  conclusively 
that  in  sixty  days  at  the  most  he  would  have  sold 
enough  goods  to  be  able  to  pay  the  note. 

"  You  see,"  said  Larry,  "  I  would  have  three  hun- 
dred dollars  in  cash,  anyway,  as  a  working  capital, 
so,  in  a  pinch,  I  would  really  only  have  to  find  two 
hundred  dollars  to  pay  it.  And  if  you  would  endorse 
it  for  me  —  there's  not  the  least  risk  in  it,  or  else  I 
wouldn't  ask  you  —  I  am  willing  to  pay  you  interest 
on  the  money,  if  you  wish,  old  man." 

"Larry!"  I  exclaimed,  quite  disappointed  that  he 
should  suggest  such  a  thing  as  interest.  "  Indeed  I'll 
endorse  the  note  for  you,  but  don't  you  talk  of  in- 
terest, for  I'm  only  too  happy  to  be  able  to  help  you  a 
bit!" 

Just  as  I  had  signed  my  name  on  the  back  of  the 
note,  Betty  came  in. 

"  What  are  you  doing,  Dawson  ? "  she  asked 
sharply. 

"  Just  — "  I  looked  at  Larry  to  see  whether  he  had 
any  objection  to  my  telling  Betty  about  it. 

He  said,  with  a  little  embarrassment :  "  It's  just  a 
little  business  matter  between  Dawson  and  me." 

"  You  know,  old  man,"  I  said  to  Larry,  "  I  talk  all 
my  business  over  with  Betty.  Of  course  you  won't 
mind  my  telling  her  about  this,  will  you  ?  " 


Endorsing  a  Note  for  a  Friend       823 

"  Why,  no,"  he  returned,  as  he  picked  up  the  note 
and  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

When  I  told  Betty  what  it  was,  to  my  astonishment 
she  said: 

"  Well,  Dawson,  if  you  allow  Mr.  Friday  to  have 
your  endorsement  on  a  note  you  are  very  foolish !  " 

"  Betty !  "  I  said,  quite  mortified  to  hear  her  speak 
so  in  front  of  my  old  friend. 

"  And,"  she  continued,  looking  Larry  squarely  in 
the  face,  "  if  Mr.  Friday  allows  his  friend  to  en- 
dorse a  note  for  him,  I  don't  think  he  is  much  of  a 
friend." 

"  I  am  sorry  your  wife  feels  that  way  about  it," 
said  Larry.  "  I  guess  I'm  coming  between  you  two, 
old  man.  Here's  the  note  —  you  better  take  it  back, 
for  I  think  too  much  of  you  to  do  anything  that 
would  affect  your  happiness.  .  .  .  Although  I  must 
say  that  I  think  Mrs.  Black  is  unjust  to  you  and 
me." 

"  You  put  that  note  right  back  in  your  pocket ! "  I 
commanded.  "  Betty,"  I  said  sharply,  "  this  is  a 
matter  which  I  can  handle  without  any  help.  Thank 
you!" 

"  Dawson,"  said  Betty,  holding  out  her  hand  to-  me, 
"  I  was  vexed." 

"  Come,  Larry,  old  man,"  I  said,  "  I've  known  you 
too  many  years  to  allow  my  judgment  of  you  to  be 
swayed." 

Larry  held  out  his  hand  to  Betty,  who,  however, 
turned  coldly  away  and  left  the  room. 

"If  you  don't  mind,  old  man,"  said  Larry,  "  I'll 
not  stay  with  you  to-night,  and  if  you  want  that  note 
back — "  his  hand  went  toward  his  pocket 


324       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  No!  If  the  time  comes  that  I  can't  trust  you,  I'll 
tell  you  so  to  your  face !  " 

"  You're  a  real  pal !  "  exclaimed  Larry,  with  feeling 
eyes. 

He  packed  his  grip,  and,  with  a  hearty,  silent  hand- 
shake, he  left  the  house. 

I  had  felt  very  much  astonished  and  mortified  that 
Betty  should  have  acted  that  way,  and  I  went  into  the 
house  to  reason  with  her.  To  my  surprise,  she  was 
in  her  room  and  the  door  was  locked. 

"  I  want  to  come  in,"  I  said. 

"  Keep  on  wanting !  "  she  replied,  angrily. 

"  B-but  — "  the  door  was  suddenly  thrown  open,  and 
Betty  stood  there  with  her  eyes  flashing. 

"  Don't  '  but '  me.  You  can  hardly  make  both  ends 
meet  now,  and  your  business  is  only  just  making  a 
bare  existence," —  I  looked  surprised  — "  yes,  a  bare 
existence ;  and  here  you  jeopardize  your  future  by  en- 
dorsing the  note  of  a  friend  without  knowing  the 
first  thing  about  it!  The  thing  I  advise  you  to  do 
is  to  begin  to  save  up  five  hundred  dollars  to  pay  that 
note." 

I  laughed. 

"  Dawson,"  she  said,  "  there  are  times  when  I  don't 
know  whether  you're  a  fool  or  not.  This  is  one  of 
the  times  I'm  sure  you're  one !  "  And,  with  that,  she 
slammed  the  door  in  my  face,  and  left  me  aghast. 

Betty  was  still  sulky  the  next  day.  She  could  not 
get  over  my  having  endorsed  that  note  for  Larry.  I 
was  disappointed  in  Betty.  I  didn't  think  she  would 
have  me  throw  down  a  pal.  Besides,  it  had  not  cost 
me  anything  to  endorse  the  note,  when  it  was  sure 
to  be  paid  long  before  it  matured.  While  trying  to 


Endorsing  a  Note  for  a  Friend       325 

get  Betty  to  be  reasonable,  the  telephone  bell  rang 
and  I  said,  "  Go  answer  it,  Betty." 

"  Better  answer  it  yourself,"  she  snapped,  "  perhaps 
it  is  some  other  friend  who  wants  you  to  give  him 
some  money." 

I  picked  up  the  telephone  and  called,  "  Hello!  " 

"  Hello,  yourself,  you  old  scallywag!  "  came  back  a 
voice  which  was  familiar,  though  for  a  minute  I  could 
not  place  it. 

"Who  is  it?"  I  asked  angrily. 

"  Who's  been  biting  you  ?  "  came  back  the  answer. 
"  This  is  Fred  Barlow,  old  surly  face.  What's  the 
matter,  anyway?  Had  a  row  with  the  wife?  " 

Fred  Barlow!  Old  Barlow's  son!  If  ever  there 
was  an  irrepressible  young  man  it  was  Fred  Barlow. 

"  I'm  coming  right  over  to  see  you,"  he  said,  and 
click  went  the  receiver. 

I  went  back  in  the  room  and  growled  at  Betty: 
"  Fred  Barlow's  coming  over  here.  Try  to  be  civil 
to  him." 

Betty  looked  at  me  for  a  minute,  then  crossed  the 
room,  and  put  one  arm  around  my  shoulder. 

"  Dawson,  dear,"  she  said,  "  you  must  not  get  vexed 
with  me.  You  know,  dearest,  I  would  do  everything 
to  make  you  happy.  But  you  must  also  know,  dear, 
you  have  such  a  great  big  heart  that  you  sometimes 
let  it  run  away  with  your  head  —  now,  don't  you  ? 
But  you  must  not  get  angry  with  me.  We  cannot  af- 
fprd  to  get  cross  with  each  other  —  can  we  ?  " 

"  I  — "  but  what  then  happened  is  nobody's  business 
but  ours.  Suffice  to  say  that,  when  Fred  Barlow  did 
breeze  into  the  house,  Betty  and  I  were  both  smiling, 
and  smiling  from  our  hearts. 


326      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"Well,  you  old  turtle  doves,"  said  Fred,  "what's 
the  price  of  dollar  razors  to-day?  I  want  to  buy  one 
so  that  I  can  razor  rumpus." 

"  Dawson,"  said  Betty  severely,  yet  with  a  twinkle 
in  her  eye,  "  please  throw  this  person  out  of  the  house. 
A  man  who  makes  puns  on  Sunday  is  breaking  the 
Sabbath." 

"  Never  mind  the  Sabbath,"  said  Fred.  "  If  you 
will  ask  me  to  break  bread  with  you  I  will  stay. 
What's  doing?" 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "  I  suppose  we  shall  have  to  ask 
him,  sha'n't  we,  Betty?" 

Then  we  stopped  fooling,  and  began  to  talk  of 
general  matters.  I  told  him  about  Larry  Friday. 

"  Poor  old  Larry,"  said  Fred. 

"Why  poor  old  Larry?"  I  asked,  with  a  sinking 
feeling  in  my  heart. 

"  Why  the  poor  devil  only  got  clear  of  the  bank- 
ruptcy court  three  months  ago.  You  know  he  tried 
to  run  the  Providence  business  after  his  father  died, 
but  he  made  a  bad  mess  of  it.  Still,  I  guess  he's 
learned  his  lesson." 

I  had  a  cold  feeling  around  my  heart,  and  I  began 
to  wish  that  I  had  heeded  Betty's  advice.  A  five 
hundred  dollar  note  is  not  much  to  endorse,  if  a 
fellow's  got  the  money;  but — " 

"  But  can  he?  "  I  heard  Betty  ask. 

"Of  course  he  can!"  said  Fred. 

"What's  that?"  I  asked,  coming  out  of  my  brown 
study. 

"  I  suppose  you  know,"  Fred  said,  "  that  I  am  an 
agent  for  the  Michigan  car,  the  best  little  four-cylinder 
on  the  market,  twenty  miles  on  a  gallon  of  gas,  seats 


Endorsing  a  Note  for  a  Friend       327 

five  people,  rides  like  a  feather  bed,  nine  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars." 

"  Hold  on,"  I  cried,  "  if  you  have  come  here  to  sell 
me  a  car,  just  beat  it  while  the  beating  is  good." 

"  I  have  not,"  he  said,  "  I  have  come  to  tell  you 
that  you  and  Charlie  Martin  are  going  joy  riding  with 
me.  I  have  to  go  to  Hartford  to  attend  the  conference 
of  the  eastern  managers  of  the  Michigan  Car  Com- 
pany, and  I  think  the  ride,  and  a  day  or  so  off,  would 
do  you  and  Charlie  a  world  of  good." 

"  But  we  can't  get  away." 

"Can't!"  jeered  Fred.  "Hear  the  man,  Betty," 
he  said,  turning  to  her.  "  Here  is  a  man  in  business 
who  says  '  can't.'  Don't  you  know  that  failure  comes 
in  '  can't's '  and  success  somes  in  *  cans/  How  many 
cans  of  it  can  I  sell  you?  " 

"  You're  full  of  it  to-day,  aren't  you?"  I  said. 

"  Bet  you  I  am,  had  eggs  for  breakfast,  and  am 
full  of  yokes." 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  Charlie  and  I  can't  get  away  to- 
gether." 

"  I'll  be  around  at  the  house  at  nine-thirty  to-morrow 
morning,  and  I'll  pick  Charlie  up  before  I  get  here. 
We  will  stay  at  Hartford  on  Monday  night,  and  Tues- 
day I  will  leave  you  folks  to  enjoy  yourselves  for  a 
short  time  while  I  attend  the  conference." 

"  There  isn't  anything  to  do  in  Hartford,"  I  said. 

"  Nothing  to  do !  Say,  Dawson,  wake  up !  You 
—  a  retail  merchant  —  saying  '  nothing  to  do  '  when 
there's  a  bunch  of  good  retail  stores  there,  every  one 
of  which  should  give  you  a  number  of  good  ideas. 
Don't  you  want  to  see  the  Charter  Oak?  Why, 
there's  a  whole  lot  of  interesting  things  in  Hartford, 


328       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

and  it  certainly  would  do  you  and  Martin  good  to 
visit  there  and  get  an  assortment  of  good  wrinkles. 
Besides,  I  want  to  tell  you  boys  something  about  auto- 
mobiles." 

"  That's  awfully  good  of  you,  Fred,"  I  said,  "  but 
honest  Injun,  I'm  not  interested  in  automobiles." 

"  Autos  be  blowed !  "  he  said. 

"  Blown,"  corrected  Betty,  smiling. 

"  Have  it  your  own  way,"  said  Fred.  "  Now,"  said 
he,  turning  to  me,  "  you  and  Charlie  are  coming  with 
me  to-morrow  as  my  guests,  and  I'm  going  to  give  you 
a  real  good  time.  I'll  be  through  at  the  meeting  at 
four  or  five  o'clock  Tuesday  night,  and  then  we'll 
have  a  good  dinner  and  a  nice  midnight  ride  back 
home." 

"  I  will  go,"  I  said. 

"  I  knew  you  would,"  he  replied,  "  and  now,  Betty, 
what  about  that  bread-breaking  stunt  you  spoke  of  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XLII 

JOCK   MCTAVISH   DISTURBS   THE   PEACE 

How  work  does  pile  up  on  one  when  he  is  away 
from  business  for  a  day  or  two!  I  was  away 
less  than  two  days ;  but  it  took  me  practically  a  whole 
week  to  get  caught  up.  I  suppose  that  it  was  be- 
cause Charlie  and  I  had  gone  away  together. 

I  had  a  fine  time  in  Hartford.  Fred  Barlow  was 
full  of  ideas.  He  told  me  something  about  a  plan  that 
he  was  then  working  out  for  chain  garages  in  connec- 
tion with  hardware  stores. 

"  You're  crazy,"  I  told  him.  "  No  one  has  ever 
done  anything  like  that  before." 

"  Good  boy !  "  he  said.  "  The  very  fact  that  no  one 
has  ever  done  it  before  shows  that  it  has  a  chance  of 
success.  I  may  have  something  to  say  to  you  about 
that  later  on,"  he  said,  mysteriously. 

We  had  a  very  interesting  meeting  the  following 
Monday.  Our  Monday  evening  meetings  were  cer- 
tainly valuable,  and  I  wouldn't  have  discontinued  them 
for  anything.  It  kept  the  fellows  thinking  and  work- 
ing in  the  interests  of  the  business. 

The  matter  for  discussion  was,  "  What  can  we  do 
to  boost  sales  this  spring?  " 

A  few  days  before  I  had  asked  old  Barlow  why  he 
always  got  the  trade  for  farming  implements.  His 
reply  had  interested  me  very  much.  He  said: 

329 


330       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  I  know  exactly  the  uses  of  all  farming  implements 
I  sell.  I  know  what  kind  of  soil  we  have  for  miles 
around  Farmdale.  I  know  what  kind  of  crops  rotate 
best,  and  what  fertilizer  is  best  for  each  crop.  The 
result  is  that  I  can  advise  the  farmer  what  to  buy, 
why  he  should  buy  it,  and  how  to  get  the  best  results 
from  using  it." 

"  You  must  be  a  regular  farmer  yourself,"  I  had 
exclaimed  with  surprise.  "  When  did  you  learn  farm- 
ing?" 

Barlow  had  smiled  as  he  said,  "  I  realized  early  in 
the  game  that  if  I  meant  to  win  the  farmers'  trade, 
I  must  win  their  confidence  by  knowing  their  needs, 
and  talking  in  their  own  terms ;  so  I  bought  that  little 
farm  at  Morton ville,  eight  miles  from  here,  just  to 
experiment  with  and  to  study  farming." 

It  just  showed  how  easily  a  boss  can  be  misunder- 
stood. When  I  worked  for  old  Barlow  we  fellows 
had  always  thought  he  was  having  a  good  time  every 
spring,  summer  and  fall  at  his  farm,  and  had  wished 
we  could  get  away  from  business  as  often  as  he  did 
just  to  "  play  "  on  the  farm  —  and  all  the  time  he 
had  been  trying  out  new  methods  so  as  to  talk  help- 
fully to  the  farmers! 

I  began  to  understand  more  and  more  why  Barlow 
was  so  successful.  He  never  guessed,  but  always  got 
the  facts  first  hand. 

Just  the  same  I'm  convinced  he  made  a  mistake  in 
not  telling  his  workers  more  of  his  methods  —  he 
would  not  have  been  so  often  misunderstood  and  mis- 
judged by  his  employees  if  he  had  had  meetings  with 
them  similar  to  my  Monday  evening  "  Directors'  Meet- 
ing." 


Jock  McTavish  Disturbs  the  Peace     331 

Well,  to  come  back  to  our  meeting.  Of  course, 
we  had  decided  to  have  a  full  line  of  gardening  tools. 
Jones  suggested  that  we  add  garden  seeds,  which  we 
had  never  kept  because  Traglio,  the  druggist,  sold 
them. 

I  demurred,  saying,  "  We  ought  not  trespass  on 
Traglio's  trade  for  seeds,  which  he  has  had  for  years." 

Charlie  Martin  said,  "  Of  course,  it's  splendid  of 
you,  Mr.  Black,  to  be  so  considerate;  but,  after  all, 
business  is  no  *  After-you-Alphonse  '  affair.  I  believe 
you  should  sell  garden  seeds.  The  hardware  store 
that  sells  garden  tools  is  also  the  logical  place  for 
seeds." 

Larsen  agreed  with  Charlie,  while  Jimmie  said, 
"  Gee,  boss,  that's  a  great  idea  —  and  let's  grow  some 
in  the  window  so  as  to  show  the  seeds  are  there  with 
the  sproutin'  act." 

We  finally  decided  to  sell  garden  seeds. 

Jones  then  suggested  that  we  should  make  a  big 
window  display  of  seeds  and  tools,  **  Not  just  a 
*  dead '  display,  you  know,  Mr.  Black,  but  a  display 
of  them  in  use.  That's  the  way  to  attract  attention 
to  the  goods  —  show  'em  being  used,"  he  concluded. 

"  How  are  we  to  show  seeds  in  use  ?  "  I  asked. 

Jones  was  stumped  and  so  was  Larsen  —  even 
Jimmie  had  no  idea.  We  all  looked  at  Charlie  when 
he  said,  "  I  remember  seeing  a  good  display  of  garden 
seeds  once." 

"Well,"  I  said,  "what  was  it?" 

"  As  near  as  I  can  describe  it,  it  was  fixed  like  this," 
said  Charlie.  "  The  floor  of  the  window  was  covered 
with  soil  divided  into  little  plots.  Each  plot  had  a 
single  variety  of  seeds  arranged  on  top  of  it  in  orderly 


332       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

rows.     In  the  center  of  each  plot  was  a  *  talking  '  sign 
something  to  this  effect : 


GIANT  BEANS 

A  5#  package  is  sufficient  for  fifty  square  feet  of  soil. 

They  should,  under  normal  conditions,  produce  pints 

of  beans,  worth  at  retail  $3.75. 


"  I  don't  remember  the  price,  the  ground  space,  nor 
the  production,"  confessed  Charlie,  "  but  that's  the 
general  idea.  The  five  cents'  worth  of  seeds  (or  what- 
ever the  amount  was)  was  visualized.  The  amount  of 
ground  they  required  was  then  given,  and,  after  that, 
the  average  production  and  its  value.  At  the  rear  of 
the  window  all  kinds  of  gardening  tools  were  arranged 
—  each  one  price-ticketed,  of  course." 

"  That's  splendid,"  I  said,  enthusiastically.  "  We'll 
appoint  you  a  committee  of  one  to  find  out  what  seeds 
to  buy  and  all  about  them." 

"  I  don't  know  the  first  thing  about  gardening,"  ob- 
jected Charlie,  "  and  will  be  more  than  glad  if  you'll 
let  some  one  else  do  it." 

I  was  about  to  insist  when,  in  an  undertone,  he 
added,  "  Believe  me,  Mr.  Black,  I've  a  very  real  reason 
for  asking  you  to  excuse  me." 

"  Very  well,"  I  replied,  somewhat  nettled.  "  Jones 
can  do  it." 

I  wondered  why  Charlie  was  so  earnest  in  wishing 
to  be  excused! 

"  Well,"  I  said  briskly,  "  that  disposes  of  one  thing. 
What  else  can  we  do  this  spring  to  boost  business  ?  " 


Jock  McTavish  Disturbs  the  Peace    333 

"  The  fish  are  biting,"  said  Larsen.  "  Stigler  has  a 
sign  in  his  window  that  says  so." 

"  I  intended  stocking  fishing  tackle  this  season !  "  I 
exclaimed.  Then,  after  a  pause,  "  And  we'll  do  it, 
too.  I'll  not  let  Stigler  put  anything  over  on  me." 

"  He's  always  sold  'em,  so  I  understand,"  said 
Charlie,  "  so  perhaps  you  will  want  to  consider  him 
and  his  trade  as  you  did  Traglio." 

I  saw  a  twinkle  in  his  eye  as  he  spoke,  for  he  knew 
my  contempt  for  Stigler.  "  Oh,  that's  different,"  said 
I,  lamely. 

"  In  that  case,"  continued  Charlie,  dryly,  "  I  suggest 
we  sell  fishing  tackle  —  and  do  it  right  away.  If  I 
can  help  I  will,  for  I  do  know  something  about  fishing." 

Just  then  I  thought  of  Barlow  and  his  grip  on  the 
farming  implement  trade,  and,  at  the  same  instant,  I 
saw  a  way  of  applying  his  principles  to  fishing,  so  I 
said,  "  Here's  a  plan  for  boosting  fishing  tackle. 
We'll  have  Martin  find  out  right  away  what  pools  and 
rivers  there  are  in  our  locality.  We'll  also  find  out 
what  kind  of  fish  can  be  caught  therein.  All  this  in- 
formation we'll  have  in  black  and  white  so  that  we 
all  can  learn  it." 

As  I  talked  the  plan  enlarged  and  took  definite  shape. 

"  Then,"  I  continued  eagerly,  "  we'll  find  out  the 
best  ways  to  get  to  all  these  fishing  grounds  —  fishing 
waters,  I  mean,"  I  said,  as  they  all  began  to  laugh. 
"  In  addition  to  that,  we'll  find  out  where  to  stay ; 
where  to  pitch  a  tent  if  necessary,  where  supplies  can 
be  bought,  and  anything  else  that  will  help  the  fisher- 
man to  know  where  to  go,  what  to  catch,  where  to  live 
while  there,  and,  most  important  of  all  for  us,  what 
kind  of  tackle  to  use  to  catch  the  fish  he's  after." 


334       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  In  other  words,"  I  said,  triumphantly,  "  we'll  make 
ourselves  experts  on  fishing,  so  that  people  wanting 
to  know  when  the  ice  is  off  the  lake,  or  when  the  season 
is  '  on  '  or  '  off  ' —  where  fishing  is  reported  good  or 
poor ;  or  what  flies  are  in  the  market  —  will  naturally 
gravitate  to  our  store." 

They  all  became  enthusiastic  over  the  plan,  and 
Charlie  promised  to  have  the  data  all  ready  by  the  end 
of  the  week. 

Jimmie  then  asked  what  we  purposed  doing  about 
baseball  goods  and  other  sporting  goods.  We  decided, 
much  to  his  disappointment,  that,  while  we  ought  to 
have  them,  we  couldn't  manage  it  that  year. 

"  Barlow's  already  got  'em,"  said  Larsen.  "  Too 
late  now.  Cream  of  trade  already  drunk  by  '  pussy  ' 
Barlow." 

I  felt  vexed  to  think  we  had  lost  our  chance  on  them, 
just  because  I  had  not  thought  ahead  sufficiently. 

The  next  day,  I  had  quite  a  disturbing  talk  with 
Jock  McTavish.  Betty  had  told  him  about  my  endors- 
ing a  note  for  five  hundred  dollars  for  my  old  school 
chum,  Larry  Friday. 

"  Ye  see,"  said  Jock,  "  your  credit  is  no'  too  good." 
I  was  about  to  protest,  indignantly,  when  Jock  con- 
tinued, "  Bide  a  wee,  lad,  and  let  me  hae  my  say. 

"  Let's  see  what  your  live  assets  are,"  he  continued. 
"  There's  your  beesiness,  o'  course ;  but  your  bank  ac- 
count is  only  sufficient  —  barely  sufficient,  ye  ken  — 
tae  meet  your  bills  and  current  expenses.  As  a  matter 
o'  fact,"  he  said  gravely,  "  ye  lost  some  discount  last 
month  for  no'  paying  in  ten  days.  I've  told  ye  before 
never  to  lose  discount.  Borrow  the  money  first.  It 
pays  to  borrow  money  at  six  per  cent,  per  year  to  make 


Jock  McTavish  Disturbs  tJie  Peace     335 

it  earn  two  per  cent,  in  ten  days  —  or  thirty-six  per 
cent,  per  year." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  I  said,  impatiently,  "  you've  told  me  that 
before." 

"  Exactly,"  said  Jock,  "  but  ye  didna  do  it  —  and 
knowing  ye  ought  to  isn't  worth  a  piper's  squeal  —  un- 
less ye  do  it. 

"  Then,"  he  went  on,  "  ye  hae  the  farm  —  or  rather 
ye  haven't,  since  Blickens  holds  the  mortgage  on  it  — 
and  makin'  ye  pay  ten  per  cent,  interest  as  weel. 

"  So  your  quick  assets  are  practically  nothing.  And 
here  ye  are,  Black,  wi'  no  quick  assets  —  and  increas- 
ing liabilities  (I  blushed  a  bit  at  that,  for  I  knew  he 
was  referring  to  Betty)  ye  go  and  add  to  your  dif- 
ficulties by  adding  a  potential  liability  o'  five  hundred 
dollars." 

"  That's  nonsense,"  I  retorted.  "  Friday's  as  good 
as  gold  for  it,  and  I've  not  the  least  chance  of  having 
to  meet  the  note." 

"  That's  what  they  aw'  say  until  — "  this  from  Jock. 

"  And  suppose,"  I  said,  "  I  did  have  to  pay  it,  I 
guess  I  could  with  all  the  profit  I  am  making.  You, 
yourself,  worked  it  out  and  should  know." 

"Profit?  Profit?"  said  Jock.  "I  didna  say  ye 
had  any  profit.  I  said  the  beesiness  showed  a  profit, 
which  is  a  horse  o'  anither  color." 

"How  so?"  I  asked. 

"  Profit  is  no'  made  'till  goods  are  sold  and  paid 
for,"  explained  Jock.  "  Your  accounts  receivable  are 
only  worth  the  value  o'  the  creditors  —  and  some  ye 
hae  are  nae  good.  Your  beesiness  shows  a  paper 
profit,  but  it  has  all  gone  into  stock.  If  ye  hae  tae 
realize  on  it,  quickly,  it  would  shrink  alarmingly  in 


336       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

value.  In  fact,  with  a  forced  sale  ye  would  show  a 
big  loss  on  your  beesiness  venture  instead  o'  the  paper 
gain  ye  show  noo." 

I  had  never  realized  this  before,  but  the  way  Jock 
explained  it  made  it  clear  to  me,  and  it  certainly  wor- 
ried me,  for  I  had  been  feeling  contented  and  satis- 
fied that  everything  was  going  along  nicely,  and  here 
came  Jock,  who  proved  to  me  that  all  my  profit  was 
potential. 

"  Ye  can't  claim  tae  hae  a  pr-rofit,"  Jock  said,  "  until 
ye  hae  the  actual  money  oot  o'  the  beesiness.  Never 
mind  what  the  wise  ones  tell  ye,  profit  is  no'  real  profit 
unless  it  is  a  cash  one  which  the  beesiness  can  spare. 
Ye  can't  spare  any  money  f  rae  your  business,  so  ye  hae 
no  real  profit." 

"  How  am  I  to  pay  the  bonus  to  the  men?  "  I  asked. 

"  Ye  can't,"  said  Jock,  "  till  ye  stop  increasing  your 
stock  so  mooch." 

"  Look  into  this  matter  also,"  here  Jock  wagged  his 
finger  at  me ;  "  see  that  ye  don't  increase  your  stock 
investment  wi'out  increasing  your  sales  correspond- 
ingly. If  ye  are  the  merchandiser  I  think  ye  are,  ye'll 
try  to  cut  doon  stock  investment  and  keep  up  your 
sales  —  and  increase  'em,  thus  speeding  up  your  turn- 
over. 

"  Remember,"  his  parting  words  were,  "  never  miss 
your  interest  on  the  farm  mortgage.  If  ye  do  Blick- 
ens  '11  tak  it." 

Do  you  wonder  I  felt  worried?  I  felt  as  if  the 
ground  had  been  cut  right  from  under  my  feet.  To 
add  to  my  troubles  Stigler  advertised  a  cut-rate  sale 
on  garden  seeds ! 


CHAPTER  XLIII 

MARTIN   SPRINGS   A   SURPRISE 

THE  next  week  I  went  with  Charlie  Martin  and 
Fred  Barlow  to  Boston  to  buy  the  automobile  acces- 
sories which  we  had  decided  upon  when  old  man  Bar- 
low and  I  had  fixed  up  that  gasoline  deal. 

He  had  come  to  the  house  one  evening  and  suggested 
it  was  time  to  get  busy. 

"  Fred  knows  the  automobile  business  thoroughly 
-  and  Charlie  is  well  up  on  it  also,"  said  Barlow, 
"  so  I  would  suggest  that,  as  I  have  to  put  up  the 
money,  if  necessary,  on  what  you  buy,  you  let  Fred 
and  Charlie  go  with  you.  Their  knowledge  should  be 
helpful  to  you." 

"  That's  a  good  idea,"  I  agreed ;  "  we'll  go  next 
Monday." 

"  I'll  tell  Fred  to  be  ready  to  go  with  you  then," 
Barlow  said.  He  was  silent  for  a  minute,  then  he 
went  on,  "  Fred  has  to  buy  a  lot  of  automobile  acces- 
sories for  his  people,  so  perhaps,  by  pooling  his  and 
your  orders,  you  can  get  prices  shaved  a  bit." 

I  looked  up  with  surprise.  "  I  thought  Fred  had 
left  his  Detroit  people." 

"  He  has,"  said  Barlow,  abruptly,  "  but  he  has  made 
new  connections  recently." 

I  wanted  to  ask  what  they  were,  but  Barlow's  at- 
titude warned  me  not  to. 

So,  the  three  of  us  went  to  Boston  and  bought  a 
337 


338       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

complete  stock  of  automobile  accessories.  I  followed 
Fred  Barlow's  lead,  for  he  certainly  was  familiar  with 
the  goods. 

The  next  day  the  men  came  to  make  arrangements 
for  putting  in  the  gas  tank.  While  they  were  measur- 
ing the  pavement,  and  deciding  just  where  to  fix  the 
pump,  Stigler  happened  along. 

"  Morning,  Stigler,"  I  said,  with  an  attempt  at 
joviality;  "how's  business?" 

"  Fine,"  he  responded.  "  How's  bread  mixers  go- 
ing?" He  sneered  as  he  spoke,  and  I  felt  myself 
getting  mad. 

"  So,  so,"  I  replied  —  then,  in  an  attempt  to  equal 
up  the  score,  I  added,  "  Too  bad  your  five-and-ten- 
cent  store  proved  such  a  fizzle !  " 

He  turned  sharply  on  me  and  snarled,  "  You  keep 
yer  damned  tongue  still  when  yer  see  me.  I  don't  let 
whelps  like  you  talk  '  big '  to  me  and  get  away  with  it, 
savvy  ?  " 

Without  another  word  he  walked  away,  leaving  me 
taut  and  trembling  with  agitation. 

I  had  been  given  to  understand  that  Stigler's  plan 
of  continual  price  cutting  had  cut  his  profits  to  the 
vanishing  point.  He  had  brooded  over  it  so  much  that 
it  had  become  a  mania  with  him.  Unfortunately,  he 
held  me  responsible  for  his  troubles. 

I  told  Betty  about  it  as  a  good  joke  on  Stigler,  but 
she  didn't  laugh,  instead  she  said  gravely,  "  Leave  that 
man  alone,  my  dear;  he  is  dangerous.  Don't  pick 
quarrels  with  him,  or  you  may  come  to  blows,  or 
worse.  Remember,  dearest,  that  I  need  you  more  than 
ever  —  now." 

How  dear  she  was,  and  how  brave  and  happy  she 


Martin  Springs  a  Surprise  339 

kept  while  waiting  —  I  could  not  let  her  have  anything 
to  worry  about  until  after. 

Charlie  Martin  had  asked  if  he  could  come  around 
to  the  house  that  evening,  and,  of  course,  I  had  said, 
"  Yes." 

Charlie  had  grown  to  be  one  of  us  almost,  and 
I  hardly  realized  how  much  I  had  come  to  depend 
on  him  until  the  thought  of  losing  him  occurred  to 
me. 

I  don't  know  how  I  had  happened  to  get  into  the 
habit  of  looking  upon  Charlie  as  a  fixture  with  me. 
I  knew  his  people  were  fairly  well  to  do,  and  that  the 
eight  dollars  a  week  I  paid  him  were  a  mere  bagatelle 
toward  his  living  expenses.  One  gets  into  the  habit, 
however,  of  accepting  things  on  surface  evidence,  until 
one  loses  sight  of  the  motive  which  is  at  the  back  of 
the  evidence.  For  instance,  if  I  had  thought  a  bit, 
I  would  have  known  Charlie  hadn't  worked  for  eight 
dollars  a  week  just  because  he  needed  a  job. 

One  thing  it  taught  me  was  that  I  must  not  confuse 
the  apparent  with  the  real.  Thereafter,  whenever  a 
man  said  anything  to  me,  I  remembered  that  there 
was  a  motive  at  the  back  of  what  he  said,  and  that  if 
I  was  going  to  understand  other  people  I  must  under- 
stand the  motive  which  impelled  their  action.  For 
instance,  I  knew  that,  when  a  man  came  in  to  buy 
a  saw  from  me,  he  had  a  reason  for  buying  that  saw. 
The  more  I  knew  of  his  reason  for  buying  it,  the  more 
able  I  was  to  sell  him  just  what  he  wanted. 

If  a  man  put  up  a  business  proposition  to  me  which 
looked  good  for  me  I  remembered  that  it  was  not  for 
me  that  he  was  doing  it.  I  was  not  the  reason  which 
impelled  him  to  give  me  a  good  deal.  It  was  some- 


340       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

thing  which  he  eventually  was  going  to  get  out  of  it 
himself.  So  I  said  to  myself,  "  Why  does  he  want 
to  do  this  for  me?  "  And  if  I  could  not  find  a  good 
logical  reason  I  left  it  alone  until  I  could. 

"  Dawson,"  said  Charlie,  after  dinner  —  he  had  got 
to  calling  me  Dawson  outside  of  business  — "  Do  you 
know  why  I  have  been  working  for  you  for  the  last 
few  months  ?  " 

"  Why,  no,  unless  you've  just  wanted  to  do  some- 
thing." 

"  I  never  do  anything  just  because  I  want  to  fill  in 
some  spare  time,"  he  smiled.  "  My  business  training 
has  taught  me  that  I  cannot  afford  to  make  a  lot  of 
waste  motions.  I  came  to  your  store  because  I  wanted 
a  small-store  experience." 

"  We're  not  so  small,"  I  protested. 

"  Well,  let's  say  small  compared  to  Bon  Marche  in 
Paris,  or  Selfridges  in  London,  or  Marshall  Field  in 
Chicago,  or  such  young  concerns.  However,  I  think 
I  know  more  about  small-store  conduct  than  I  did  be- 
fore, now  that  I've  had  some  experience.  You  see, 
I  studied  retail  merchandising,  but  that  was  only  half 
the  battle,  you  know.  All  I  learned  there  was  no  use 
whatever  until  I  found  whether  I  could  actually  apply 
it. 

"  As  you  know,"  he  continued,  "  I  went  to  Detroit 
and  studied  the  automobile  business  —  not  from  the 
manufacturing  end,  but  from  the  distribution  end  — 
because  Fred  Barlow  and  I  had  a  hunch  that  there 
was  a  big  future  in  automobile  selling,  if  we  could 
discover  it." 

"  I  should  think  there  was  a  big  '  present,' "  I  re- 
marked. 


Martin  Springs  a  Surprise  341 

"  Yes,  there  is  a  big  present  for  the  manufacturers, 
and  some  few  distributors  make  a  fine  thing  out  of 
it.  But  the  distribution  end  struck  us  as  being  very 
inadequate." 

"  Fancy  you  two  young  fellows  deciding  that  the 
big  bucks  up  in  Detroit  don't  know  how  to  sell  auto- 
mobiles !  " 

"  I  guess  you're  right,  at  that,"  agreed  Charlie ;  "  but 
the  outsider  often  gets  a  different  slant  on  things 
from  the  fellow  who  is  continually  on  the  job.  But 
that's  neither  here  nor  there,"  and  he  waved  his  hand 
as  if  to  brush  aside  the  discussion.  "  The  point  is 
that  Fred  and  I  went  to  Detroit  together  and  studied 
the  automobile  business  from  the  distribution  end, 
and,  of  course,  we  also  learned  how  they  are  made. 
We  then  looked  into  the  accessories,  and  found  out 
quite  a  lot  about  selling  them.  Then  we  decided  we 
wanted  retail-store  experience,  particularly  in  hard- 
ware. So  Fred  has  been  studying  the  practical  side 
of  retail-store  management  in  his  dad's  office,  while  I 
have  been  studying  it  in  yours." 

"  Do  you  think  that's  quite  fair  ?  "  I  said  in- 
dignantly, "  for  you  and  Fred  Barlow  to  use  his  father 
and  me  as  suckers  ?  " 

"  Don't  get  vexed,"  he  said  quietly,  "  until  you  know 
the  reason  for  our  actions."  Then  he  continued,  "  I 
don't  think  you  have  any  cause  to  complain  at  what 
I've  done  for  you,  Dawson.  I  think  I've  been  worth 
my  eight  dollars  a  week." 

"Of  course  you  have.     Forgive  me." 
'    "  Here's  the  idea,"  he  resumed.     "  The  hardware 
stores  of  the  country  are  at  last  waking  up  to  the  fact 
that  automobile  accessories  are  logically  a  department 


342       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

of  the  hardware  store.  We  feel,  however,  that  the 
garage  itself  is  a  logical  department  of  the  hardware 
store.  The  hardware  store  in  the  past  has  lost  several 
lines  which  ought  to  belong  to  it.  Look  at  the  number 
of  hardware  lines  the  drug  stores  sell,  and  the  depart- 
ment stores  also.  If  the  hardware  stores  had  been  on 
the  job  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  bought 
a  bicycle  anywhere  than  at  a  hardware  store. 

"  Now,  we  have  to  admit  that,  of  late,  the  hard- 
ware repair  shop  has  not  been  a  flourishing,  profitable 
department.  In  fact,  many  hardware  stores  have 
eliminated  it,  sending  outside  such  odd  jobs  as  must 
be  done.  We  believed  —  in  fact,  we  still  believe,  that 
the  hardware  store  of  the  town  should  also  be  the  lead- 
ing garage  of  the  town,  and  that  the  garage  is  the 
natural  development  of  the  tin  shop.  Many  hardware 
stores  are  selling  gasoline,  and,  as  you  know,  auto- 
mobile accessories  are  becoming  quite  common  in  a 
hardware  store. 

"If  we  had  a  garage  adjacent  to  our  hardware 
store,"  he  continued,  "  we  could  not  only  supply  a 
man  with  accessories,  but  attach  them  to  his  car.  If 
a  man  has  a  breakdown,  we  are  in  a  position  to  re- 
pair his  car,  and  then  exercise  our  selling  ability  to  sell 
him  accessories. 

"  Just  look  at  the  average  garage !  Did  you  ever 
know  of  a  garage  man  who  made  a  display  of  acces- 
sories? If  the  present  garagemen  were  on  to  the  job 
they  could  put  the  hardware  man  out  of  business, 
so  far  as  accessories  are  concerned."  Here  Charlie 
paused  for  a  minute,  and  then  added :  "  Except,  per- 
haps, in  the  larger  cities. 

"  As  you  know,  my  dad  has  quite  a  little  money, 


Martin  Springs  a  Surprise  343 

and  he  is  willing  to  set  me  up  in  business.  Fred  Bar- 
low's dad  has  a  little  money,  also." 

I  smiled  at  this,  because  it  was  known  all  over 
town  that  old  man  Barlow  was  one  of  our  wealthiest 
citizens. 

"  Fred  and  I  and  our  dads,"  he  continued,  "  have 
formed  a  little  corporation  under  the  title  of  Martin  & 
Barlow.  What  we  plan  to  do  is  to  operate  a  chain 
of  garages  in  connection  with  the  best  hardware  store 
in  each  town.  We  are  going  to  run  a  garage  in  Farm- 
dale  here,  in  that  place  exactly  opposite  Barlow's  store. 
We  are  also  going  to  have  a  display  window  in  the 
garage  where  accessories  will  be  shown.  The  hard- 
ware store  will  also  contain  a  big  display  of  accessories, 
which  will  be  under  our  control.  We  are  going  to  pay 
Mr.  Barlow  a  small  sum  for  rent  of  space  in  his  store. 
Fred  or  I  will  be  in  charge  of  that  to  begin  with. 

"  We  have  a  man  coming  from  the  Michigan  Car 
Company  to  look  after  the  garage.  We  will  also  have 
the  exclusive  agency  for  this  territory  for  the  Michigan 
car.  That  is  how  it  will  work  out,"  he  continued, 
after  a  moment's  pause. 

"  We  shall  train  one  of  Barlow's  clerks  to  look  after 
the  accessories  department  in  the  store.  We  shall  then 
have  our  own  man  who  will  go  around  selling  cars 
in  this  locality.  We  shall  also  have  a  man  in  the 
garage  who  understands  repairs  of  all  kinds,  and  par- 
ticularly the  Michigan  car,  for  which  he  shall  carry 
a  complete  line  of  parts." 

"  Will  that  pay  Barlow?  "  I  asked. 

"  Yes,  for  in  return  for  his  providing  a  salesman  for 
the  accessories  department,  we  will  give  him  a  percent- 
age of  the  profits  from  that  department,  besides 


344       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

guaranteeing  him  a  small  sum  for  rent  every  month. 

"  Now  our  salesman  for  the  Michigan  car  will  also 
canvass  the  car  owners  in  the  locality  —  representing 
Barlow's  store,  you  understand, —  and  secure  their 
business  for  accessories.  We  believe  that  he  will  sell 
enough  cars  and  accessories  to  pay  for  himself  and 
to  make  money  for  the  store  and  us.  In  addition 
to  this  the  salesman  will  take  orders  for  general  hard- 
ware whenever  the  opportunity  occurs,  and  on  such 
business  the  store  gives  us  a  commission.  In  other 
words,  you  see,  our  salesman  is  really  a  salesman  for 
everything  that  Barlow  will  sell. 

"  The  man  we  will  have  in  charge  of  the  garage 
is  not  only  thoroughly  trained  in  repair  work  of  all 
kinds  by  the  Michigan  Car  Company,  but  he  has  also 
been  given  a  special  schooling  in  simple  bookkeeping, 
salesmanship,  the  need  of  cleanliness,  courtesy,  and  the 
best  way  to  keep  his  garage  smart  and  attractive. 
He  is  not  only  able  to  repair  cars,  but  he  knows  how 
to  charge  for  his  repairs." 

"  All  the  garage  men  I  know  don't  need  any  train- 
ing in  that,"  I  said,  with  a  grin. 

He  smiled  and  went  on :  "  Now,  when  we  have 
this  town  working  properly  we  want  to  make  arrange- 
ments with  a  good  hardware  man  in  another  town. 
Fred  Barlow  and  I  will  get  hold  of  a  local  man,  train 
him  in  the  selling  of  the  Michigan  car,  and  show  him 
how  to  go  about  building  up  accessories  and  general 
hardware  trade.  We  will  also  teach  one  of  the  hard- 
ware man's  clerks  how  to  sell  accessories;  and  the 
Michigan  Car  Company  will  then  send  us  another  man 
with  the  same  training  as  the  first  to  look  after  the 
garage  for  us,  which  will  in  every  case  be  located 


Martin  Springs  a  Surprise  345 

as  near  to  the  hardware  store  as  possible.  The 
Michigan  Car  Company  is  running  a  regular  class- 
room in  its  factory,  so  that  we  will  have  fifty  men, 
properly  trained,  if  we  need  them. 

"Of  course,  we  shall  have  signs  up  in  the  garage 
that  automobile  accessories  and  hardware  can  be 
bought  from  the  hardware  store,  and  in  the  hardware 
store  there  will  be  signs  saying  that  gasoline  and  re- 
pairs of  all  kinds  are  to  be  had  in  our  garage,  at  such 
an  address. 

"  In  each  town  we  will  operate  our  business  in  the 
name  of  the  local  store." 

"  Won't  you  have  a  job  in  checking  up  your  cash  ? 
Do  you  have  your  salesman  look  after  that,  and  bond 
him?" 

"  No,"  he  replied.  "  The  local  hardware  man  is 
responsible  for  all  cash.  We  get  him  to  receive  all  the 
money  collected,  render  us  a  weekly  report,  and  send 
us  a  check  for  the  full  amount,  with  a  list  of  any  goods 
wanted  for  either  the  garage  or  the  accessories  de- 
partment." 

"  Can  you  get  the  hardware  people  to  do  that  ?  " 
I  asked  skeptically. 

"  We  think  we  can." 

"  Do  you  think  you  can  get  them  to  go  to  all  that 
bother  and  trouble  ?  " 

Charlie  smiled  and  replied:  "If  they  are  not  will- 
ing to  go  to  that  bother  and  trouble  we  would  not  want 
to  work  with  them,  for  it  would  show  they  were  '  dead 
ones.'  We  believe  that  live  hardware  people  will  be 
glad  to  work  with  us  on  a  proposition  such  as  this, 
which  will  be  a  source  of  profit  to  them,  as  well  as  in- 
creased sales  on  their  regular  hardware  lines." 


346       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  What's  the  local  garage  man  going  to  say  about 
this?"  I  asked. 

"  It  will  be  a  survival  of  the  fittest,"  he  said  quietly. 
"  We  have  not  entered  into  this  to  put  the  garage  man 
out  of  business,  but  merely  to  get  a  garage  business 
for  ourselves.  We  shall  not  consider  him  in  any  way, 
or  go  out  of  our  way  to  fight  him.  We  shall  merely 
mind  our  own  business,  and  get  as  much  of  it  to  mind 
as  we  can." 

"  When  are  you  going  to  start  here?  " 

"May  ist,"  he  replied. 

"  Say,"  I  exclaimed,  sitting  up  straight,  "  then  all 
those  goods  Fred  and  you  bought  while  with  me  in 
Boston  are  really  for  your  store  here?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  why  didn't  you  or  Barlow  say  something 
about  it?" 

"  Look  here,  Dawson,  we  can  trust  you  to  the  last 
gun  shot;  but,  if  one  wants  to  keep  a  thing  quiet  the 
best  way  is  to  tell  nobody,  for  if  he  starts  to  tell  one, 
before  he  knows  it  he  is  telling  some  one  else,  and  his 
plans  may  be  frustrated  before  he  has  a  chance  of 
putting  them  into  operation." 

"  Why  bother  to  tell  me  about  it  all,  then?  "  And 
then  another  distressing  thought  occurred  to  me. 
"Look  here,  Charlie,  this  is  going  to  hurt  me.  If 
you  have  a  man  going  around  selling  hardware  he  is 
going  to  upset  Larsen  on  his  weekly  trips  to  get  busi- 
ness. Then,  what's  the  good  of  my  having  acces- 
sories, if  you  are  fighting  me  all  the  time?  " 

The  more  I  thought  about  it  the  more  alarming  it 
became. 

"  I'm  going  to  see  old  Barlow  first  thing  in  the 


Martin  Springs  a  Surprise  347 

morning."  I  felt  my  temper  rising.  "  I  am  going  to 
tell  him  to  keep  his  old  gas  tank.  I  won't  have  it; 
and  as  for  those  accessories,  I'll  return  them  right 
away.  You're  not  going  to  use  me  as  a  cat's-paw  in 
your  business,  and  you  and  Barlow  can  go  — " 

"  Oh,  shut  up !  "  said  Charlie,  sharply.  "  Look  here, 
Dawson,  old  man  Barlow  never  did  anything  to  hurt 
you,  and  is  not  going  to  now.  Fred  and  I  think  too 
much  of  you.  In  fact,  we  want  you  to  help  us  and 
yourself  at  the  same  time.  This  town  is  big  enough 
for  two  hardware  stores  with  accessories.  The  only 
man  who  is  going  to  be  pinched  here  is  Martin,  who 
runs  the  garage,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  old  Barlow 
is  out  for  Martin's  scalp." 

I  then  recalled  an  episode  between  old  man  Barlow 
and  Martin,  the  garage  man,  some  years  ago,  when 
they  had  a  lawsuit  over  a  land  boundary.  Martin 
played  some  very  dirty  trick  on  Barlow,  who  lost  his 
case.  The  only  comment  Barlow  ever  made  was,  "  I 
can  wait."  It  looked  to  me  as  if  Barlow  was  helping 
to  start  a  new  idea  in  chain  store  organization,  and  at 
the  same  time  paying  off  an  old  score. 

"  Well,  where  do  I  come  in  on  this  deal?  "  I  asked, 
somewhat  suspiciously,  I  must  own. 

"  Listen,  Dawson,"  said  Charlie,  putting  his  hand 
on  my  knee,  "  you're  a  mighty  original  chap.  Some 
of  the  selling  stunts  you  have  pulled  off  here  show 
you  have  an  excellent  merchandising  instinct.  You 
have  made  some  '  bulls,'  of  course,  but  I'd  hate  to 
have  a  fellow  around  me  who  couldn't  make  some  mis- 
takes. When  we've  got  our  plan  in  this  town  working 
properly,  we  would  like  you,  if  we  could  get  you,  to 
thoroughly  study  the  automobile  accessories  busi- 


348       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

ness,  and  think  up  ways  and  means  of  selling  them; 
and  then  we'd  like  you,  if  you  would  to  come  in  with 
us  as  a  partner  and  take  charge  of  the  selling  and  dis- 
playing of  the  accessories  for  all  our  stores.  We 
would  also  like  to  have  you  write  up  form  letters 
to  send  to  car  owners,  and  go  around  and  visit  the 
stores  and  see  that  the  goods  are  being  displayed  prop- 
erly. Think  up  new  selling  wrinkles  for  salesmen, 
and  things  of  that  sort." 

Then  he  got  up  abruptly,  leaving  my  head  in  a  whirl- 
wind with  the  torrent  of  thoughts  he  had  given  me, 
and  said,  "  Think  it  over,  old  man,  and  talk  about  it 
with  Betty,  but  don't  let  it  go  any  further ! " 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

A   BUDGET   OF   SURPRISES 

THERE  followed  three  such  strenuous  months  that 
everything  had  to  go  by  the  board,  except  business; 
and  I  cannot  with  any  clearness  remember  everything 
that  took  place. 

We  started  our  profit-sharing  plan,  as  arranged 
on  June  i,  the  beginning  of  my  fiscal  year.  I  had 
thought  we  had  so  thoroughly  threshed  out  the  plan 
that  it  would  work  like  a  charm ;  but  two  months  had 
barely  passed  before  friction  started.  Larsen  felt  he 
ought  to  get  a  larger  percentage  of  the  profits  than 
his  salary  called  for,  because  he  went  out  selling,  and 
said  that  he  thereby  created  business  which  no  one 
else  could  get  and  he  did  his  regular  work  besides. 
Whenever  the  boy  Jimmie  made  a  suggestion  of  any 
kind  he,  at  the  same  time,  added  that  he  ought  to  have 
a  special  extra  bonus  for  that  suggestion,  if  it  was 
any  good.  I  talked  the  matter  over  with  Jock,  and 
finally  we  straightened  it  out,  but  I  have  not  the  time 
to  tell  you  how  we  satisfied  the  warring  elements. 

I  would  also  like  to  tell  in  detail  of  the  starting  of 
the  new  chain  garage  plan.  In  three  months  it  was 
already  working  well  in  Farmdale,  and  negotiations 
had  been  completed  for  the  second  garage  in  Hartley- 
ville.  We  had  struck  an  awful  lot  of  snags  in  starting 
this  plan.  How  to  handle  the  store,  and  at  the  same 
time  study  automobile  accessories,  had  been  some  job, 

349 


350      Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

but  Fred  Barlow  and  Charlie  Martin  were  certainly 
live  wires,  and  they  could  think  up  more  ways  of  doing 
a  thing  than  I  ever  dreamed  of. 

I  remember  once  reading  something  by  Elbert 
Hubbard  in  which  he  said  that  every  business  required 
a  pessimist,  an  optimist,  and  a  grouch.  I  believed  we 
would  succeed,  for  old  Barlow  was  certainly  the  pessi- 
mist in  the  bunch,  and  whenever  Charlie  or  Fred  went 
to  him  with  any  new  idea  they  wanted  to  "  pull  off  " 
in  connection  with  the  garage  chain  plan  he  acted  like 
a  brake  to  their  enthusiasm  —  or,  as  he  put  it,  kept 
them  down  to  Mother  Earth. 

'  Charlie's  father  had  oodles  of  money,  and  was  the 
principal  director  of  the  idea,  and  he  was  the  grouch. 
Charlie  used  to  say  that  his  dad  never  believed  any- 
thing until  he  actually  saw  it. 

"  If  I  were  to  go  to  him,"  said  Charlie,  "  and  say 
to  him,  '  Dad,  I  made  a  hundred  dollars  to-day/  he 
would  say,  *  Show  it  to  me,'  and,  if  I  did  show  it  to 
him,  he  would  then  ask  me  if  I  had  planned  what  I 
was  going  to  do  with  it  to  make  it  earn  more  money. 
If  I  had  told  him  I  had,  he  would  then  say  that  either 
the  investment  I  had  planned  was  safe  enough  but 
didn't  pay  enough  dividend  —  or  else  that  it  wasn't 
safe,  although  it  paid  a  good  dividend.  I'd  hate  to 
have  a  disposition  like  Dad's,"  laughed  Charlie,  "  and 
yet  Dad's  a  good  old  scout,  and  he  must  believe  in  the 
plan,  else  he  wouldn't  back  it  the  way  he  is  doing." 

Charlie,  Fred  and  I  were  the  optimists,  I  guess. 

I  had  to  thank  old  Barlow  for  doing  me  one 
good  turn,  for,  during  all  the  excitement  I  had  com- 
pletely forgotten  to  make  my  payment  to  the  president 
of  the  bank,  Mr.  Blickens.  It  was  the  monthly  pay- 


A  Budget  of  Surprises  351 

ment  of  fifty  dollars  to  apply  against  the  mortgage 
on  my  farm.  Jock  had  repeatedly  told  me  to  be  sure 
not  to  get  behind  with  that  or  I  might  lose  my  farm. 
The  very  morning  after  the  payment  was  due  I  had 
a  telephone  call  from  Blickens,  asking  me  to  go  to 
see  him.  I  went,  and  he  reminded  me  I  hadn't  made 
my  payment.  I  said  I  would  write  out  my  check  there 
and  then,  but  he  said,  "  I  don't  think  it  is  at  all  satis- 
factory." 

"  You  must  take  up  the  mortgage  at  once  or  I  shall 
foreclose,"  he  added  in  that  acid  tone  of  his. 

"  But,  Mr.  Blickens,  you  couldn't  do  that !  " 

"  Couldn't?  "  he  snapped.     "  You  don't  know  what 
I  could  do."     He  pulled  out  his  watch  and  said,  "  It's  , 
ten  now  —  you  must  take  up  that  note  by  twelve  or  I 
shall  foreclose." 

Old  Barlow  was  in  the  bank  as  I  came  out  of  the 
president's  office,  and  he  evidently  noticed  I  was  feel- 
ing disturbed,  for  as  I  left  the  bank  he  followed  me 
and  put  his  arm  around  my  shoulders  in  such  a  kindly 
way  that  I  just  told  him  the  whole  story. 

He  screwed  his  mouth  a  little,  a  habit  he  had  when 
thinking  quickly.  Then  "  Come  back  to  the  bank,"  he 
said,  shortly.  He  wrote  out  a  check  for  cash,  drew 
the  money  and  gave  it  to  me,  saying,  "  Give  that  to 
him." 

We  entered  Blickens'  office  together.  He  looked 
surprised  to  see  old  man  Barlow,  too.  "  What  do  you 
want  ?  "  he  snarled. 

"  Nothing,"  smiled  Barlow,  "  only  I  just  wondered 
if  you  couldn't  give  young  Black  here  a  little  longer 
on  that  note.  He's  all  right.  Would  you  give  him 
a  little  longer  if  I  endorsed  his  note?" 


352       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

"  Look  here,  Mr.  Barlow,"  snapped  Blickens, 
"  you've  interfered  once  or  twice  in  my  business.  I 
told  Black  that  I'd  give  him  till  twelve  o'clock  to  take 
up  that  mortgage.  If  he  is  going  around  whining 
after  I  have  helped  him,  I'll  give  him  no  time  at  all. 
He  must  pay  the  money  right  here  and  now  —  or  I'll 
foreclose  at  once." 

"  Pay  him,  Dawson,"  said  Barlow,  quietly. 

"  I  won't  accept  a  check  —  it  isn't  legal  tender,  and 
his  check  wouldn't  be  any  good  either." 

By  this  time  I  had  pulled  out  the  roll  of  money,  and 
say,  it  did  me  good  to  see  Blickens'  eyes.  They  stuck 
out  of  his  head  so  far  you  could  have  knocked  them 
off  with  a  stick.  He  fairly  gurgled  with  disappoint- 
ment, but  there  was  nothing  else  to  do  but  take  his 
medicine,  which  he  did  none  too  graciously. 

I  gave  Barlow  a  demand  note,  with  the  farm  as 
collateral,  to  cover  the  loan  he  had  made  me.  I  felt 
safer;  but  it  wasn't  my  fault  that  I  hadn't  lost  my 
farm.  What  a  lot  of  trouble  borrowing  money  gets 
one  into ! 

When  I  got  home  from  this  episode,  which  had 
started  me  so  unpleasantly,  but  which  had  finished  so 
well  for  me,  I  found  a  letter  from  Larry  Friday,  in 
which  he  said  that  he  found  he  had  been  stung  badly 
on  the  store,  and  he  didn't  know  whether  he  would 
be  able  to  carry  it  on  or  not.  He  hoped,  however,  be- 
fore the  note  matured,  to  find  some  of  the  money,  but 
would  see  eventually  that  I  got  paid  back  what  I  would 
have  to  pay.  I  felt  positively  sick. 

I  was  sitting  by  Betty's  bedside  when  I  read  the 
letter,  and  she  noticed  my  face  change. 

"What  is  it,  boy  dear?" 


A  Budget  of  Surprises  353 

I  silently  passed  the  letter  over  to  her  and  waited  for 
her  to  say,  "  I  told  you  so."  Some  women  are 
wonderful  —  aren't  they  ?  She  said  nothing  of  the 
sort,  but  patted  my  hand  and  said: 

"  Too  bad,  but  never  mind,  dear,  I'd  much  sooner 
you'd  lose  a  few  dollars  because  you've  such  a  big 
heart,  than  have  you  make  a  lot  of  money  by  being  like 
Blickens." 

I  realized  that  I  would  have  to  set  to  and  save  every 
penny  I  could  to  apply  against  that  note  when  it  came 
due.  There  was  still  a  month  to  get  together  what- 
ever money  I  could,  but  it  was  going  to  spoil  some  sell- 
ing plans  I  had  wanted  to  try  for  the  store.  Never 
again,  would  I  endorse  a  note  for  any  man!  I  have 
certainly  learned  my  lesson.  But  why,  oh  why, 
couldn't  I  have  profited  by  other  people's  experience 
instead  of  having  to  learn  business  methods  by  my 
own?  The  tuition  fee  in  the  school  of  experience  is 
mighty  high. 

Now,  I  must  tell  you  the  dreadful  scare  we  had  a 
few  nights  later.  At  eleven-thirty  at  night  —  just  as 
I  was  impatiently  walking  the  floor  of  our  little  sitting- 
room,  while  the  doctor  was  upstairs  with  Betty,  I  heard 
the  fire  engine  dash  past  the  end  of  the  street.  At  the 
same  time  I  saw  a  huge  tongue  of  flame  shoot  above 
the  house,  with  the  accompaniment  of  a  dull  roar. 
The  flame  was  in  the  direction  of  my  store,  and,  of 
course,  my  first  thought  was  that  my  store  had  caught 
fire  again  —  or  that  Stigler  had  fired  it. 

For  the  last  few  months  Stigler  had  been  acting 
queerly.  He  used  to  stand  across  the  road  from  my 
store  and  nervously  bite  his  finger  nails.  Then  he 
would  unconsciously  rub  his  forehead  in  a  slow 


354       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

methodical  way.  After  a  time  he  would  return  to 
his  own  store,  would  gaze  into  the  windows  and  mutter 
incoherently  to  himself.  I  felt  that  Stigler  had  for 
some  time  been  on  the  verge  of  a  nervous  breakdown. 
Business  had  been  going  very  badly  with  him,  I  knew, 
because  a  jobbing  house  from  which  I  bought  had 
stopped  his  credit. 

During  the  previous  three  weeks  he  had  been  sell- 
ing goods  at  ridiculous  prices.  Not  satisfied  with 
normal  cuts,  he  in  many  cases  had  sold  goods  below 
cost.  It  had  worried  me,  and  I  had  told  Barlow,  who 
had  said  to  let  him  alone,  as  a  price  cutter  was  a  hog 
and  would  eventually  finish  by  cutting  his  own  busi- 
ness throat,  and  he  had  advised  me  to  keep  clear  of 
Stigler,  as  he  (Stigler)  attributed  all  his  misfortunes 
to  my  competition  —  and  he  hadn't  forgiven  me  for 
winning  Betty. 

Well,  to  get  back  to  that  fatal  night.  I  saw  the 
nurse  in  the  corridor,  so  I  told  her  that  I  would  be 
home  again  in  a  few  minutes,  and  not  to  tell  Mrs. 
Black  that  there  was  a  fire.  I  then  grabbed  my  hat 
and  ran  down  the  street. 

I  found  it  was  not  my  store,  but  Stigler's.  It  was 
a  most  horrible,  but  fascinating,  sight.  The  body  of 
the  store  was  blazing  like  a  furnace.  The  bright  red 
glow  from  it  shone  across  the  road  and  its  light,  danc- 
ing upon  the  faces  of  the  crowd  watching  the  fire, 
made  an  eerie  sight.  Little  tongues  of  fire  were 
already  shooting  out  of  the  upstairs  windows,  while 
one  side  of  the  roof  was  well  alight.  Little  running 
streams  of  flame  kept  playing  backwards  and  forwards 
across  it,  and,  even  while  I  watched,  there  was  another 
roar  and  part  of  the  roof  collapsed. 


A  Budget  of  Surprises  355 

I  knew  the  fireman  who  was  holding  the  horses' 
heads.  "  Some  fire,"  I  said  to  him  in  an  undertone. 

"  You  bet  it  is,"  he  replied  curtly ;  "  the  beggar  set  it 
himself." 

"  Nonsense !  "  I  said  incredulously. 

"  The  place  has  been  saturated  with  gasoline.  A  fire 
couldn't  catch  like  that  in  so  brief  a  time.  It  will  be  a 
pretty  serious  matter  for  Stigler,  believe  me." 

My  brain  was  in  a  whirl  with  the  roar  and  crash  of 
the  fire,  the  light  glowing  all  around.  The  knowledge 
that  Stigler  had  fired  his  own  store  and  the  fact  that  I 
was  the  man  he  had  openly  blamed  for  his  misfortune 
gave  me  an  impression  of  deep  apprehension.  Yet 
somehow  I  felt  sorry  for  Stigler,  for,  while  he  had  all 
the  time  been  competing  with  me,  I  had  never  competed 
with  him ;  although,  goodness  knows,  I  probably  would 
have  done  so  had  it  not  been  for  the  wiser  council  of 
Barlow. 

While  I  stood  there,  wondering  and  anxious,  I  felt 
some  one  near  me.  Why,  I  don't  know,  but  my  feel- 
ing of  apprehension  was  now  accompanied  by  intense 
horror.  I  wanted  to  turn  and  see  who  it  was  —  and 
yet  I  positively  dreaded  to.  In  a  moment  I  heard  a 
voice  hiss  in  my  ear : 

"  I  hope  yer  satisfied  now.  That's  your  work. 
You  —  you  were  the  cause  of  that.  You've  been  the 
ruin  of  an  honest  man,  but  yer  sha'n't  live  to  enjoy  yer 
victory  —  " 

I  turned  and  saw  Stigler  —  his  face  chalky  white  — 
his  blood-shot  eyes  wide  and  staring;  a  little  saliva 
trickling  from  the  corner  of  his  mouth.  Just  then  an- 
other crash  came  and  a  flame  shot  skyward.  It  played 
upon  his  face  and  gave  him  the  appearance  of  some  evil 


356       Dawson  Black:  Retail  Merchant 

spirit.  I  put  my  hands  up  just  as  he  leaped  toward  me. 
I  felt  his  fingers  tightening  around  my  throat.  I  tried 
to  shout,  but  couldn't  —  only  beating  my  fists  upon  his 
face. 

It  was  over  as  quickly  as  it  started,  for  the  crowd  in- 
stantly tore  him  from  me.  At  last  my  scattered  wits 
recalled  what  had  happened,  and  I  saw  Stigler  being 
marched  away  shrieking  and  laughing  crazily. 

Two  good  souls  took  hold  of  me,  one  by  each  arm, 
and  led  me  away  from  the  scene  of  the  fire.  After  a 
few  minutes  I  regained  my  self-control,  and  remem- 
bered what  was  taking  place  at  home.  I  asked  my 
friends  to  go  that  far  with  me.  As  we  reached  the  end 
of  our  street  a  policeman  came  to  me  and  said,  "  Can 
you  tell  me  anything  about  Stigler?" 

"  Not  to-night,"  I  replied. 

"  Will  you  report  to  the  police  station  in  the  morn- 
ing? We'll  probably  want  you." 

"What  for?" 

"  Well,  Stigler  has  just  died."  .  .  . 

Poor  Stigler  —  he  had  been  his  own  worst  enemy 
and  had  paid  a  heavier  price  than  any  one  else  would 
have  demanded  of  him! 

My  thoughts  were  really  sad  as  I  opened  the  door  of 
my  home  —  home  ?  yes,  indeed !  For  as  soon  as  I  en- 
tered the  house  I  knew  it  was  a  dearer  home  than  it  had 
ever  been. 

The  doctor  was  downstairs,  smiling. 

"  Tell  me,  doctor,  quick  —  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  Daddy,"  he  said  kindly,  "  would  you  like  to 
see  your  little  boy?  " 

"  How's  Betty  ?  "  was  my  answer  to  him. 

"  Doing  splendidly." 


A  Budget  of  Surprises  357 

"Can  I?  —  " 

"  Don't  look  so  worried.     This  thing  is  happening 
every  day,  all  over  the  country." 


THE   END 


A  new  "  Blossom  Shop  "  story 

THE  MT.   BLOSSOM   GIRLS 

{By  Isla  May  Mullins 

A  sequel  to  "The  Blossom  Shop,"  "Anne  of  the  Blos- 
som Shop  "  and  "Anne's  Wedding" 

Illustrated,  cloth,  I2mo,  decorative  jacket,  $1.50 


IN  this  fourth  and  last  volume  of  The  Blossom  Shop  J 
stories  May  Carter  and  Gene  Grey,  who  have  won 
countless  friends  among  readers  of  the  series,  come 
before  them  now  as  the  center  of  interest.  University 
graduates,  the  two  girls  come  forth  enamoured  of  the 
settlement  idea,  and  proceed  to  carry  it  out  at  the 
mining  and  iron  ore  plant  of  their  father  in  the 
mountains  of  Alabama,  with  the  added  interest  of  effort 
among  the  quaint  mountaineers  of  the  region.  Things 
move  at  a  lively  pace  from  the  moment  of  their  arrival — 
things  unexpected  and  gay  and  tragic,  which  put  them 
on  their  mettle,  but  do  not  find  them  wanting.  The 
girls  are  much  imbued  with  the  new  independence  of 
woman  as  well  as  with  thought  of  her  broadened  sphere, 
and  Cupid,  who  lingers  near,  is  beset  by  various  un- 
yielding obstacles,  but  conquers  in  the  end.  The  book  i 
has  for  an  underlying  thread  ideals  of  the  same  high  g 
type  which  have  characterized  the  former  volumes. 


WHAT  ALLAH  WILLS 


Irwin  L.  Qordon 

Author  of  "  The  Log  of  The  Ark  " 

• 
Illustrated,  $1.3$;  carriage  paid,  $1.50 


Take  Morocco  for  a  background  —  that  quaint  and 
mysterious  land  of  mosques  and  minarets,  where  the  I 

1  • 

muezzin  still  calls  to  prayer  at  sundown  the  faithful.  ]! 

Imagine  a  story  written  with  power  and  intensity 
and  the  thrill  of  adventure  in  the  midst  of  fanatical 
Moslems.  Add  to  this  a  wealthy  young  medical  stu- 
dent, a  red-blooded  American,  who  gives  up  his  life 
to  helping  the  lepers  of  Arzilla,  and  the  presence  of  a 
beautiful  American  girl  who,  despite  her  love  for  the 
hero,  is  induced  to  take  up  the  Mohammedan  faith, 
and  you  have  some  idea  of  what  this  remarkable  story 
presents. 

WHAT  ALLAH  WILLS  is  a  big  story  of  love  and 
adventure.  Mr.  Gordon  is  the  author  of  two  notable 
non-fiction  successes,  but  he  scores  heavily  in  this,  his 
first  work  of  fiction. 


Selections  from 
The  Page  Company's 
List  of  Fiction    k 


WORKS  OF 

ELEANOR  H.  PORTER 

Each,  one  volume,  cloth  decorative,  12mo,  illustrated,  $1.50 

POLLYANNA:  The  GLAD  Book     (400,000) 

Trade  Murk  Trade Mark 

Mr.  Leigh  Mitchell  Hodges,  The  Optimist,  in  an  editorial  for 
the  Philadelphia  North  American,  says:  "And  when,  after 
Pollyanna  has  gone  away,  you  get  her  letter  saying  she  is 
going  to  take  'eight  steps'  tomorrow  —  well,  I  don't  know  just 
what  you  may  do,  but  I  know  of  one  person  who  buried  his 
face  in  his  hands  and  shook  with  the  gladdest  sort  of  sadness 
and  got  down  on  his  knees  and  thanked  the  Giver  of  all 
gladness  for  Pollyanna." 

POLLYANNA  GROWS  UP:  The  Second  GLAD  Book 

Trade  Mark  (200,000)  Trade  Mark 

When  the  story  of  POLLYANNA  told  in  The  Glad  Book  was 
ended,  a  great  cry  of  regret  for  the  vanishing  "  Glad  Girl " 
went  up  all  over  the  country  —  and  other  countries,  too.  Now 
POLLYANNA  appears  again,  just  as  sweee  and  joyous-hearted, 
more  grown  up  and  more  lovable. 

"  Take  away  frowns !  Put  down  the  worries !  Stop  fidgeting 
and  disagreeing  and  grumbling !  Cheer  up,  everybody !  POLLY- 
ANNA  has  come  back !  "  —  Christian  Herald. 


The  PL  AD  Book  Calendar 

Trade  Mark 

THE  POLLYANNA  CALENDAR 

Trade  Mark 

(This  calendar  is  issued  annually;  the  calendar  for  the  new 
year  being  ready  about  Sept.  1st  of  the  preceding  year.  Note: 
in  ordering  please  specify  what  year  you  desire.) 

Decorated  and  printed  in  colors.  $1.50 

"  There  is  a  message  of  cheer  on  every  page,  and  the  calen- 
dar is  beautifully  illustrated."  —  Kansas  City  Star. 


THE  PAGE  COMPANY'S 


WORKS  OF  ELEANOR  H.  PORTER  (Continued) 

MISS  BILLY  ( igth  printing) 

Cloth   decorative,  with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 

painting  by  G.  Tyng  $1.50 

"There  is  something  altogether  fascinating  about  'Miss 
Billy,'  some  inexplicable  feminine  characteristic  that  seems  to 
demand  the  individual  attention  of  the  reader  from  the  moment 
we  open  the  book  until  we  reluctantly  turn  the  last  page." — 
Boston  Transcript. 
MISS  BILLY'S  DECISION  (i2th .printing) 

Cloth  decorative,   with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 

painting  by  Henry  W.  Moore. 

$1.59 

"The  story  is  written  in  bright,  clever  style  and  has  plenty 
of  action  and  humor.     Miss  Billy  is  nice  to  know  and  so  are 
her  friends." — New  Haven  Times  Leader. 
MISS  BILLY  —  MARRIED    (loth  printing) 

Cloth  decorative,   with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 

painting  by  W.  Haskell  Coffin. 

$1.50 

"Although  Pollyanna  is  the  only  copyrighted  glad  girl,  Miss 
Billy  is  just  as  glad  as  the  younger  figure  and  radiates  just 
as  much  gladness.  She  disseminates  joy  so  naturally  that  we 
wonder  why  all  girls  are  not  like  her." — Boston  Transcript. 

SIX  STAR  RANCH  ( 2  oth  Printing) 

Cloth  decorative,  12mo,  illustrated  by  R.  Farrington  Elwell. 

$1.50 

"  'Six  Star  Ranch'  bears  all  the  charm  of  the  author's  genius 
and  is  about  a  little  girl  down  in  Texas  who  practices  the  'Polly- 
anna  Philosophy*  with  irresistible  success.  The  book  is  one  of 
the  kindliest  things,  if  not  the  best,  that  the  author  of  the  Polly- 
anna books  has  done.  It  is  a  welcome  addition  to  the  fast- 
growing  family  of  Glad  Books." — Howard  Russell  Bangs  in  the 
Boston  Post. 

CROSS   CURRENTS 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated.   "  $1.25 

"To  one  who  enjoys  a  story  of  life  as  it  is  to-day,  with  its 

sorrows  as  well  as  its  triumphs,  this  volume  is  sure  to  appeal." 

—  Book  News  Monthly. 

THE  TURN   OF  THE  TIDE 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated.  $1.35 

"A  very  beautiful  book  showing  the  influence  that  went  to 
the  developing  of  the  life  of  a  dear  little  girl  into  a  true  and 
good  woman." —  Herald  .  and  Presbyter,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


LIST   OF   FICTION 


WORKS  OF 

L.  M.  MONTGOMERY 

THE  FOUR  ANNE  BOOKS 

Each,  one  volume,  cloth  decorative,  12mo,  illustrated,  $1.50 
ANNE  OF  GREEN  GABLES  (43rd  printing) 

"  In  '  Anne  of  Green  Gables '  you  will  find  the  dearest  and 
most  moving  and  delightful  child  since  the  immortal  Alice."  — 
Mark  Twain  in  a  letter  to  Francis  Wilson. 

ANNE    OF   AVONLEA    (28th  printing) 

"  A  book  to  lift  the  spirit  and  send  the  pessimist  into  bank- 
ruptcy !  "  —  Meredith  Nicholson. 

CHRONICLES    OF   AVONLEA    (7th  printing) 

"  A  story  of  decidedly  unusual  conception  and  interest"  — 
Baltimore  Sun. 

ANNE    OF   THE   ISLAND    (i2th  printing) 

"  It  has  been  well  worth  while  to  watch  the  growing  up  of 
Anne,  and  the  privilege  of  being  on  intimate  terms  with  her 
throughout  the  process  has  been  properly  valued."  —  New 
York  Herald.  

Each,  one  volume,  cloth  decorative,  12mo,  illustrated,  $1.50 

THE    STORY   GIRL    (roth  printing) 

"  A  book  that  holds  one's  interest  and  keeps  a  kindly  smile 
upon  one's  lips  and  in  one's  heart."  —  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

KILMENY   OF   THE   ORCHARD    (nth  printing) 

"  A  story  born  in  the  heart  of  Arcadia  and  brimful  of  the 
sweet  life  of  the  primitive  environment"  —  Boston  Herald. 

THE   GOLDEN   ROAD    (6th  printing) 

"  It  is  a  simple,  tender  tale,  touched  to  higher  notes,  now 
and  then,  by  delicate  hints  of  romance,  tragedy  and  pathos."  — 
Chicago  Record-Herald. 


THE    PAGE    COMPANY'S 


NOVELS  BY 

ISLA    MAY    MULLINS 
THE   BLOSSOM   SHOP:   A  Story  of  the  South 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated  by  John  Goss. 

$1.50 

"  Frankly  and  wholly  romance  is  this  book,  and  lovable  —  as 
is  a  fairy  tale  properly  told.  And  the  book's  author  has  a  style 
that's  all  her  own,  that  strikes  one  as  praiseworthily  original 
throughout."  —  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

ANNE    OF   THE   BLOSSOM  SHOP:   Or,  the  Grow- 
ing Up  of  Anne  Carter 

Cloth  decorative,  with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 
painting  by  Z.  P.  Nikolaki  $1.50 

"  A  charming  portrayal  of  the  attractive  life  of  the  South, 

refreshing  as  a  breeze  that  blows  through  a  pine  forest."  — 

Albany  Times-Union. 

ANNE'S   WEDDING 

Cloth  decorative,  with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 

painting  by  Gene  Pressler  $1.50 

"  The   story   is   most   beautifully   told.     It   brings   in   most 

charming  people,  and  presents  a  picture  of  home  life  that  is 

most  appealing  in  love  and  affection.     It  is  a  delightful  tale, 

highly   refreshing   and   most   entertaining."  —  Every   Evening, 

Wilmington,  Del. 

NOVELS  BY 

DAISY   RHODES   CAMPBELL 
THE   FIDDLING   GIRL 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated  $1.50 

"  A  thoroughly  enjoyable  tale,  written  in  a  delightful  vein  of 
sympathetic  comprehension."  —  Boston  Herald. 

THE   PROVING   OF   VIRGINIA 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated  $1.50 

"  A  book  which  contributes  so  much  of  freshness,  enthusiasm, 

and  healthy  life  to  offset  the  usual  offerings  of  modern  fiction, 

deserves   all  the  praise  which  can  be  showered   upon  it."  — 

Kindergarten  Review. 

THE   VIOLIN   LADY 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated  $1.50 

"  The  author's  style  remains  simple  and  direct,  as  in  her  pre- 
ceding books,  and  her  frank  affection  for  her  attractive  heroine 
will  be  shared  by  many  others."  —  Boston  Transcript. 


LIST   OF  FICTION 


NOVELS  BY 

MARY    ELLEN    CHASE 
THE    GIRL    FROM    THE    BIG    HORN    COUNTRY 
Cloth  12mo,  illustrated  by  E.  Farrington  Elwell. 

$1.50 

N     " '  The  Girl  from  the  Big  Horn  Country "'  tells  how  Virginia 
Hunter,  a  bright,  breezy,   frank-hearted   '  girl  of  the  Golden 
West'  comes  out  of  the  Big  Horn  country  of  Wyoming  to  the 
old  Bay  State.    Then  things  begin,  when  Virginia  —  who  feels 
the  joyous,  exhilarating  call  of  the  Big  Horn  wilderness  and 
the  outdoor  life  —  attempts  to  become  acclimated  and  adopt 
good  old  New  England  '  ways.' "  —  Critic. 
VIRGINIA,   OF   ELK   CREEK   VALLEY 
Cloth  12mo,  illustrated  by  E.  Farrington  Elwell. 

$1.50 

"  This  story  is  fascinating,  alive  with  constantly  new  and 
fresh  interests  and  every  reader  will  enjoy  the  novel  for  its 
freshness,  its  novelty  and  its  inspiring  glimpses  of  life  with 
nature."  —  The  Editor. 

NOVELS  BY 

MRS.    HENRY    BACKUS 
THE    CAREER    OF   DOCTOR    WEAVER 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated  by  William  Van  Dresser. 

$1.50 

"  High  craftsmanship  is  the  leading  characteristic  of  this 
novel,  which,  like  all  good  novels,  is  a  love  story  abounding  in 
real  palpitant  human  interest.  The  most  startling  feature  of 
the  story  is  the  way  its  author  has  torn  aside  the  curtain  and 
revealed  certain  phases  of  the  relation  between  the  medical  pro- 
fession and  society."  —  Dr.  Charles  Reed  in  the  Lancet  Clinic. 
THE  ROSE  OF  ROSES 

Cloth  decorative,  with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color. 

$1.50 

The  author  has  achieved  a  thing  unusual  in  developing  a  love 
story  which  adheres  to  conventions  under  unconventional  cir- 
cumstances. 

"  Mrs.  Backus'  novel  is  distinguished  in  the  first  place  for  its 
workmanship."  —  Buffalo  Evening  News. 

A   PLACE   IN    THE    SUN 

Cloth  decorative,  illustrated  by  William  Van  Dresser. 

$1.50 

"  A  novel  of  more  than  usual  meaning."  —  Detroit  Free  Press. 

"  A  stirring  story  of  America  of  to-day,  which  will  be  enjoyed 
by  young  people  with  the  tingle  of  youth  in  their  veins."  — 
Zion's  Herald,  Boston. 


THE   PAGE   COMPANY'S 


NOVELS  BY 

MARGARET   R.    PIPER 
SYLVIA'S   EXPERIMENT:   The  Cheerful  Book 

Trade Mark 

Cloth  decorative,  with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 
painting  by  Z.  P.  Nikolaki  $1.50 

"  An  atmosphere  of  good  spirits  pervades  the  book ;  the 
humor  that  now  and  then  flashes  across  the  page  is  entirely 
natural,  and  the  characters  are  well  individualized."  —  Boston 
Post. 

"It  has  all  the  merits  of  a  bright,  clever  style  with  plenty 
of  action  and  humor."  — r  Western  Trade  Journal,  Chicago,  III. 

SYLVIA  OF  THE  HILL  TOP:   The  Second  Cheerful 

B00k  Trade Mark 

Cloth  decorative,  with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 
painting  by  Gene  Pressler  $1.50 

"  There  is  a  world  of  human  nature  and  neighborhood  con- 
tentment and  quaint  quiet  humor  in  Margaret  R.  Piper's  second 
book  of  good  cheer."  —  Philadelphia  North  American. 

"  The  bright  story  is  told  with  freshness  and  humor,  and  the 
experiment  is  one  that  will  appeal  to  the  imagination  of  all  to 
whom  the  festival  of  Christmas  is  dear."  —  Boston  Herald,  Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

"  Sylvia  proves  practically  that  she  is  a  messenger  of  joy  to 
humanity."  —  The  Post  Express,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

SYLVIA   ARDEN   DECIDES:   The   Third   Cheerful 
Book  Trade Mark 

Cloth  decorative,  with  a  frontispiece  in  full  color  from  a 

painting  by  Haskell  Coffin  $1.50 

"  It  is  excellently  well  done  and  unusually  interesting.    The 

incidents  follow  one  another  in  rapid  succession  and  are  kept 

up  to  the  right  pitch  of  interest."  —  N.  Y.  American. 

"  Its  ease  of  style,  its  rapidity,  its  interest  from  page  to  page, 
are  admirable ;  and  it  shows  that  inimitable  power  —  the  story- 
teller's gift  of  verisimilitude.  Its  sureness  and  clearness  are 
excellent,  and  its  portraiture  clear  and  pleasing."  —  The  Reader. 
"  It  is  an  extremely  well  told  story,  made  up  of  interesting 
situations  and  the  doings  of  life-like  people,  and  you  will  find 
it  very  easy  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  different  characters 
through  its  varied  scenes."  —  Boston  Herald. 


A     000129014     7 


